Radio Silence
by Cyndercrys
Summary: Renee and Gene have created a comfortable life in Diamond City together. That is, until a talking Deathclaw appears with news about Institute-modified Deathclaws bent on attacking the Commonwealth. When things go terribly wrong, Gene's nightmares come true and Renee is left without a leg to stand on.
1. Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

**Sequel to _That Wicked Feeling_. Highly suggested to read that before this one.**

* * *

Since being commissioned by Piper to make a wedding dress, Gene couldn't deny her sales at the store increased. They didn't "shoot up" by any sense; but there was a definite increase in traffic and orders. Just enough that maybe she could take a vacation that year. She smiled at the thought. Maybe a nice little vacation with Renee…

"Ma'am, shouldn't Miss Jones have returned by now?"

She looked up at Z0E. True, the store already closed, and Renee was nowhere to be seen. "She's probably just running late. Maybe she went to get dinnah or something."

The Assaultron beeped but didn't comment, going back to brining out more merchandise for tomorrow.

Gene continued trying to add up the day's sales. She put down her pencil once she finished. "Well, we might have to go out on another supply run early, Z0E. Looks like those hats short stack found are selling like crazy."

"That's good to hear, ma'am."

The minutes continued to tick by. Gene finished her bookkeeping and looked up at the clock on the wall. Nearly six in the evening and still no Renee. She furrowed her brow. "I'm gonna go look for her—"

"G-Gene!" The door opened, slamming against the outside wall, and Renee staggered inside. She collapsed on the shop's floor.

"Short stack!" Gene rushed to her side and knelt next to her. "What the hell happened?"

"I was—trying to m-make it back, and I—" Renee inhaled sharply. She pulled her hand away from her abdomen to reveal a bloody, gaping wound. "I was j-jumped. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

Gene cradled her in her arms. "Z0E, go get Doc Sun!"

"Right away, ma'am!" The Assaultron dashed past them.

"I don't think I'm gonna make it…" Renee coughed, flecks of blood patterning her lips. "Gene, I…"

Gene shook her head. "You'll be okay. You'll be fine. Just hold on, short stack. Hold on."

"I…c-can't…"

Renee's head tilted back and she went limp. Gene shook her. "Short stack? Renee! Renee, no!"

* * *

Gene's eyes snapped open and she took a gasping breath. The moon shone a single shaft of light into her room, directly over Renee. She rolled over. "Short stack…?" She reached out to shake the redhead's shoulder.

"Mm… Huh? What is it…" Renee rolled to face her and yawned. "What time is it?"

"I dunno." Gene cupped her cheek, running her thumb over the bone. "I just…wanted to see you."

Renee yawned again. "Oh." She slid closer beneath the covers and snuggled up to Gene. "Can't that wait until morning?"

"…No." Gene wrapped an arm around her and held her close.

It didn't take long for Renee to fall asleep again. Gene could feel each breath enter and leave the redhead's body, could feel the warmth from her arms and legs. All clear signs of life. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the image of Renee dying in her arms. It wasn't the first nightmare; and she had a feeling it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

Noodle flicked his tongue in and out where he laid by the rotating barbershop sign. He tilted his head as the man circled Renee again. "How short ya wantin' to go?" He asked, tapping his scissors to his chin absently.

"Not very. Chest level." Renee followed him with her eyes and the mirror. "Maybe leave my bangs layered?"

"Hm…" He whirled the chair around and began brushing through her hair. "I'll see what I can do. Ma! I need the water!"

Cathy readied the supplies he needed and sat herself in another chair. "You know, there was a woman in the Upper Stands with your hair color. I used to cut her hair all the time." She inhaled her cigarette deeply. "Not often we get redheads around."

"It's a pretty—" Renee shrieked in surprise as John spun her around again and shoved her backward. Her head went straight into a cold basin of water. "H-holy shit this is freezing!"

"Well it wouldn't be if _someone_ would get Abbot over here to fix the water heater. Ma!" John began running some homemade product through her hair.

Cathy grumbled and flicked her cigarette ash to the floorboards. "He said he'd get around to it, John."

John rolled his eyes. He finished with the product and rinsed it out as well as he could, much to Renee's displeasure. She gripped the armrests of the chair as he spun her again. "All right, let's get started." He cracked his knuckles and began combing.

Renee sat still while he worked, getting each lock straight and even. He chuckled about halfway through. "You've got some thick hair, lady."  
"I know. Makes a good rope in a pinch."

John stopped. He began to laugh as he kept combing. "That's a new one."

Shortly after he began snipping away the auburn-red hair, she saw Gene run by. "Gene?" She called, leaning forward ever so slightly. John pulled her shoulder back.

Gene spun on her heel and doubled back. "Short stack, theah you are!" Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. "Wait, you're just…getting a haircut?"

"Yes?" Renee arched an eyebrow. "What did you think I was doing?"

"I don't know! You just left a note that said you'd left and you'd be back latah, I didn't know what the hell you meant!" She huffed and crossed her arms. "You coulda said you were just comin' down heah…"

Noodle shoved himself to his feet and nudged Gene's leg with a whimper. He pawed at her boot. She sat on the steps and stroked his head. "So why're you getting your hair cut, anyway? I like it long…"

"So do I, but remember a few nights ago? When we were, uh…"

 _Renee propped herself up on her elbow, leaning over Gene. "We should go on supply runs more often if this is how you're going to pay me for my services."_

 _"Services? What kinda service, attracting all the Ferals from heah to Bunkah Hill?" Gene giggled and poked the redhead's nose._

 _"Oh, if that's all I am to you…" Renee sighed and began to roll off her, aiming to get off the bed. However, a hard tug on her scalp made her stop and wince. She could see somehow in their activities her long hair had gotten caught beneath Gene's shoulder._

Gene scratched the Nightstriker behind the ears. "Oh."

"Yeah." Renee blew some stray hair from her face.

John moved around to the front and began shaping her bangs. "Nearly done…"

Long, wavy strands of reddish hair crowded the floorboards beneath the barber chair. Gene stared at one nearby, noticing how it curled over on itself twice. Noodle noticed it too and shuffled over to sniff at it. He sneezed and it whizzed out into the street.

"Good job, buddy." Gene smirked.

John stepped back. "How's that?"

Renee stood up and ran her fingers through her damp hair a few times. She tilted her head this way and that in the mirror before nodding. "Perfect. Thanks." She pulled a hair ribbon off her wrist and tied her hair in a loose ponytail over her right shoulder.

He held out his hand for the caps she owed him and pocketed them happily. "My pleasure!"

Renee waited for Gene to stand before she began leading the way back to the store. "So, what do you think?" She asked, fiddling with the ponytail.

"I like it." Gene reached over to muss her hair.

"Hey!"

* * *

Like many evenings, they filled theirs with the sound of Gene's sewing machine and Renee reading an old pre-war book on the couch. Z0E stood waiting by the stairs while Noodle entertained himself with a Radstag bone.

Gene jumped when she suddenly felt Renee's arms around her. She stopped and looked up. "Hey theah."

"Gene, I've been thinking… I need a new job."

"Scrapping isn't hard enough?" Gene took off her spectacles and turned. "I said you could just move heah with me and not pay for an apahtment."

"I meant a _real_ job." Renee leaned against Gene's worktable. "Like when I was with the caravan."

"Don't tell me Cricket gave you a job."

"No, she didn't. I don't want to be a caravan guard again anyway. That'd be too much time away from you." Renee smiled before her expression slid back to neutral. "No. I, ah… I saw the Diamond City security has an opening. I was thinking of signing up."

Gene felt a cold shock run through her. "The…guards? Wh-why would you…"

"I'm good with a gun. And I've got Noodle. Plus I have experience. It'd be easy caps!"

"I… I don't know, short stack, that's…"

"What?" Renee knelt to rub Noodle's belly, who'd perked up upon hearing his name.

Gene took a deep breath. "It's dangerous."

"And going on supply runs with you isn't?"

"You know what I mean."

"I don't need you to watch my back every damn second of the day, Gene. I can take care of myself." Renee stood. "Besides, I'll be careful. I promise to always come home to you." She brushed some stray ebony hair from Gene's forehead. "Haven't I always?"

Gene gave a weak nod.

Renee smiled and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I'll see you in the morning. Don't stay up too late, okay?" She clicked her tongue for Noodle to follow as she headed for the stairs.

"Short stack?"

Renee stopped and turned. "Yeah?"

Gene forced a smile. "I… I love you."

"I love you too." Renee winked.

* * *

That night, Gene dreamt of Renee being torn in two by Super Mutants trying to protect Diamond City.


	2. Bang Bang, I Shot You Down

Captain Lassiter stood beside her, his hands behind his back. "You only need to hit seven out of the ten targets, Miss Jones. Any less than that and you won't be allowed to join the force." He smirked. "Don't feel bad if you can't hit that many."

Renee simply flicked the safety off her rifle. She raised the gun, positioning the stock against her shoulder. She took a breath and aimed at the ten Gwinnett Stout bottles on the fence, her eyes slightly narrowed. Her finger pulled back on the trigger.

Captain Lassiter's jaw went slack.

"So what happens if I hit ten out of ten?" Renee let the rifle droop to the ground.

The other guards that came to watch her test were staring at the fence where she'd shot down all ten bottles. She shrugged. "You know I used to do that all the time back home, right?"

"H-how did you reload so fast…" The captain shook his head. "W-well then. Welcome to the Diamond City Security Force, Miss Jones. If you'll follow me we can get you set up with a uniform."

"A uniform? Wait, you mean I'll have to wear…" Renee glanced at a nearby guard and his _god-awful_ uniform that she and Gene always made fun of. "Uh, sir, isn't there something else I can wear instead? What's wrong with my own clothes? Can't I just have a badge?"

Lassiter arched an eyebrow and continued walking back to the security office. "I suppose there wouldn't be anything wrong with wearing your own clothes as long as you make it obvious you're part of the security detail. Maybe you could have your friend sew the Diamond City on the back of your jacket."

"Maybe…"

"Whatever the case, you don't start until next week so you have time to decide. I'll see you and your… _partner_ bright and early Monday morning." He glanced at Noodle as the snup trotted alongside them. "You're dismissed, Officer Jones."

"Yes sir!" Renee gave him a sloppy salute before heading back to _Wicked Aesthetics_.

* * *

"…So that's why you got a tattoo?" Gene continued to run her hands along Renee's back.

"Yep. I figure even if I don't stay with the security guards, I still live here now so it fits." Renee winced with a grunt. "Ooh yeah, right there."

Gene began kneading at the bundle of muscles. "I can't say I evah imagined you with one."

"What do you think?" The redhead turned her head and gathered all her hair off to the side. The white ink diamond permanently etched in her neck could be plainly seen. She smirked. "Hm?"

Gene's hands stilled. Honestly, she liked it. _A lot._ She found it alluring, dangerous. It gave Renee a kind of…edge, almost, and _damn_ if it didn't look good. She swallowed hard and felt heat rush into her cheeks (as well as other places). "It, uh… I like it. It…looks good on you."

"I'm glad." Renee rolled over onto her back and laced her fingers beneath her head. A smirk still curled her lips. "Well, well, well. Miss Dandridge, I do believe you're blushing."

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "You're laying on my bed half-naked, of course I'm blushing."

"Well, why don't you _do something_ about it, then?" Renee reached one hand down to her belt, her thumb sliding along the buckle. "You've been busy at work. You're stressed. Time to let off some steam, hm?" She turned her head to show off the tattoo again.

Gene didn't need much of an invitation. She stretched out alongside the redhead, holding herself steady with one hand while the other began trailing along Renee's naked chest. She pressed a kiss to the center of the tattoo. "Convenient. It's like a target…"

Renee let slip a whimper. "Heh… Y-yeah…"

Gene continued to kiss at her throat. She could hear the soft whimpers and gasps that Renee gave. Her fingers explored a bit lower, feathering over the redhead's abdomen. "I forgot how much you like that," she murmured and nipped at the tender skin of Renee's neck.

Renee began to moan but snapped her jaw shut. Her hand scrambled for her belt buckle. "G-Gene…"

"Let me take care of that." Gene gripped Renee's hand. She pushed herself up and gazed at her girlfriend for a moment. Flushed as she was, the freckles peppered along Renee's nose and cheeks popped out, dark stars on her pale skin. "You know…"

"What?" Renee matched her gaze. Her blue eyes were wide and her lips were parted slightly.

"It kills me that you don't know what you do to me." Gene ran her thumb along Renee's bottom lip. "Sometimes, I… You make it hard to work."

Renee smiled and her eyes fell half-lidded. "I'd really appreciate it if you got back to work right about now."

"Impatient today?" Gene chuckled. She pressed a quick kiss to the redhead's lips. "Now wheah were we…"

Renee guided her hand back to her belt while Gene continued to kiss her, moving down her throat to her collar. By now Gene had become quite adept at undoing Renee's belt with one hand; she deftly flicked the buckle away and slipped the leather from the metal loop. Her fingers reached for the zipper of Renee's jeans.

"God, could you move _any_ _fucking slower_?" Renee growled, reaching up to knot her hand in Gene's hair.

"Heh."

Renee's grip tightened and she let out a strangled gasp. Her hips rolled at Gene's touch. Gene smirked now. She continued to nip at Renee's throat, occasionally biting just hard enough to leave a mark but not enough to hurt—too badly. Her girlfriend mewed beneath her. "Bettah?" She whispered, pulling back for only a moment.

"Uh-huh." Renee managed a weak nod.

Gene continued to tease her. She felt Renee tense and smiled. Not a moment later Renee kissed her, hard, as she peaked. Her chest heaved. "God damn…" She breathed, pressing her forehead to the shopkeeper's. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of that."

"You always say that." Gene smiled, chuckling. "Not sure how much steam I got to let off but I'm glad you're happy."

"I didn't say we were done." Renee's eyes flashed.

Gene found herself flipped onto her back, her wrists pinned above her head by Renee. The redhead straddled her.

"Your turn."

* * *

Hours later, Gene awoke from yet another nightmare. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to focus her breathing. _Why… Why is she always…_

Renee shifted beside her and yawned. "It's your turn to take Noodle out," she mumbled, pulling the blankets closer.

"Renee."

At Gene's usage of her real name she sat up. "What is it? Is something wrong?" She rubbed her eyes.

Gene gazed at her in the dim light. Renee's hair was mussed from sleeping and their activities prior. Her eyes were wide. Gene grabbed her suddenly, holding her tight. "I love you."

"I love you too, but I also love to breathe!"

She let her grip slacken. "I… I don't know what I would do if you… If you nevah came home." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"I'm always careful." Renee sighed. "I know you didn't really want me to join the security guards but I'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

Gene didn't want to think about the answer that she knew too well.


	3. Right Here Beside Me

_Monday, 5:30 AM_

Renee groped for the alarm clock to shut it off. Usually she spent the whole weekend at Gene's and woke up next to her on Monday mornings— "So you can start the week off right," she'd say, usually stealing a kiss from the shopkeeper and snuggling back in the blankets for another hour of sleep.

But today, she had work. Her first shift of guard duty. She groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Noodle," she groaned, "come on buddy." She yawned and got to her feet. Her spine popped as she stretched.

Noodle snuffled and rolled over on his back.

"Come on, you need to go to work too." She nudged him with her foot as she walked down the steps from her loft.

Once she had a bowl of Sugar Bombs in her hand, she turned to lean against her kitchen counter and eat. Her new jacket hung on a hanger off the back of the bathroom door. As much as she liked her usual clothes, it was time for a change. "I've got just the thing," Gene had said, going into the back room to pull out a black leather jacket that looked similar to the one she always wore. "Just your size."

And it was. The high collar kept her neck warm and it actually went down her whole torso, which was already better than her old jacket. A part of her couldn't wait to take it for a spin, strange as it sounded.

* * *

 _Monday, 8:00 AM_

Gene had been awake for quite some time when her alarm went off. She hardly used it these days and usually turned it off before it had a chance to ring. With a sigh she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stood, stretching her arms above her head. The start of a new work week was here.

She threw on a plain t-shirt and jeans from her bureau before heading to the bathroom to comb through her hair. "Z0E?" She called. A particularly hefty knot on the underside of her hair fought her. "Damn it…"

There came a rapid series of beeps, a sure sign Z0E was just booting up for the day. "Good morning, ma'am!" She came up the stairs.

"Mornin'." Gene finally got the knot undone and splashed some water on her face. "Think you could start breakfast?"

"Ma'am, I'm programmed for assisting you in the shop, not the kitchen." Z0E made a sound that could be considered a robot equivalent of a sigh. "But I suppose so."

"Thanks." Gene yawned again before brushing her teeth.

She spent much of the night awake and rolling around in bed. The nightmares just wouldn't stop, especially not since she knew it was Renee's first day on the job. She gripped the sink basin with one hand. _I know she can handle herself. She doesn't need my help. She's not a kid._

"Ma'am, what would you like for breakfast?" Z0E's voice cut into her thoughts.

Gene spit the toothpaste into the sink. "Oh, uh, eggs are fine." She rinsed off the toothbrush.

* * *

 _Monday, 11:47 AM_

Noodle's jaw snapped shut around the bit of brahmin steak thrown his way. He chewed and swallowed, wagging his tail for more. He barked for attention.

"Not a bad mutt ya got there." One of the guards grinned and tore off a bit more of his lunch. "One more!"

Renee smiled as she watched the other guards play with Noodle. "He's a good boy." She ate her own lunch quietly. Truth be, she was exhausted. It wasn't often she got up so early. And standing around the entrance to the city for hours with nothing to do didn't help any.

Another guard clapped her on the back and nearly caused her to choke. "Whaddaya think of your first day, Jones?" He grinned at her.

"It's n-not bad." She coughed and took a generous swig from her Nuka. "Kinda boring."

"That's a good thing. Means there ain't any trouble." He nodded to his fellow guards. "Trust me, you'll be wishin' for days like this after your first Mutant attack."

Renee didn't need him to elaborate. She looked up as Yefim came out of the Dugout to start gathering plates.

* * *

 _Monday, 12:32 PM_

The bell above the door jingled as it opened. Gene rushed to swallow the bite of her razorgrain bar she took not two seconds before. "We'come to _Wicked Aefeticff_!" She said, sending crumbs all over the counter.

Piper laughed at the sight. "Having a late lunch?"

Gene frowned and took another bite. "Yef I am."

"I noticed." The reporter slapped a fresh newspaper on the counter. "Well, here's this week's issue. I think you'll like it." She opened it up. "And there's your ad, just like you wanted."

"Thanks, Pipah." Gene swallowed hard and grabbed the paper. "Hopefully that'll bring in some new customahs, you know? Maybe some travelahs…" She grinned. "Nat still giving out free copies?"

"Not anymore. We couldn't afford it." Piper sighed and adjusted her hat. "Even with Nate helping out, we still need to make caps somehow."

Gene nodded. "Trust me, I get that. Well, thanks. I'll make sure Noodle doesn't get a hold of this one."

"Speaking of which, where is he? And Renee? Usually I see them hanging out."

"Oh. Short stack got a job with the Diamond City guards. She had her first shift today. Noodle went with her." Gene folded the newspaper back up. "I'm not sure when she'll be back."

"I bet she'll be good at that. It's about damn time we got some competent guards." Piper chuckled and turned to go. "I'll see you around!"

"See you." Gene watched her leave and sighed. "Yeah…"

* * *

 _Monday, 6:50 PM_

"Guess who?"

Gene jumped at the hands that covered her eyes at first. She relaxed and smiled. "Let's see… I hope it's my favorite redhead."

A laugh. "You would be right."

She turned to see Renee standing behind her. "Wheah have you been? I haven't seen you all day."

"After my shift ended I went back to my apartment and took a nap. I was exhausted." Renee hid a yawn behind her hand. "Hell, I still am."

"You had an early day." Gene turned back to her sewing machine. Nate had brought in his Vaultsuit for repairs, _again_ , and she was nearly finished.

Renee slipped her arms around Gene, resting her chin on the woman's shoulder. "And how was your day?"

"Fine. Nothing much happened. The usual." Gene gently eased the fabric through the machine.

"I want to hear about it."

She chuckled. "You want to hear about how I sat behind the countah all day and talked to Z0E?"

Renee tightened her grip ever so slightly. "You could tell me about anything you wanted and I'd listen." She pressed a kiss to Gene's cheek. "I missed you."

Gene stopped. "I missed you too." She reached up to place her hand over both of Renee's. "How was your day?"

"Boring. Nothing attacked so I was standing around all day." She shifted. "Sit with me."

"Okay, okay…" Gene flicked off the sewing machine and stood up. She allowed Renee to lead her over to the couch where she sat down, lounging on the cushions. To her surprise, Renee laid down with her head in her lap.

"Mm, you're nice and warm…" Renee rolled onto her side, facing away from Gene.

The shopkeeper began running her fingers through Renee's hair. They were quiet for a few minutes, the only sound coming from Z0E finishing up downstairs and Noodle fighting with a Radstsag bone. She sighed. "Short stack, I wanted to say that I'm… I'm sorry. I've been hounding you about how dangerous the Commonwealth is when you already know. Lately I've been having these nightmares and I just… I don't want them to come true, you know?"

Renee didn't answer and Gene took it as a sign to continue. "I didn't even know all the different ways you could die until I started having these dreams. And you always die at the end. And I can't do anything to stop it." She tucked some hair behind Renee's ear. "I guess these nightmares are really showing me how much I need you."

Renee shifted. Gene blinked as she realized her girlfriend had fallen asleep in her lap. She shook her head with a smile. "You really were tired…" She eased out from under the redhead and grabbed the blanket draped over the back of the couch. As soon as she laid it over Renee, she grabbed it closer and curled into a ball.

Gene knelt and kissed her forehead. "Good night." She ran her thumb along the scar seaming through Renee's left eyebrow. She tried to memorize how peaceful and content Renee looked in this moment; hopefully it would stave off any night terrors that wanted to drag her down.


	4. Wisdom, Wheah Can I Get Some?

Noodle barked as he bounded into the shop at the end of a long day. He went up to Gene and bowed, gazing up at her. His tail rattled as it wagged back and forth.

She laughed. "Well, someone's full of energy!" She reached down to pat his head. "Short stack, how was—" She gasped. "Renee!"

"Gene, I'm fine." Renee nudged the door closed with her foot and limped into the shop. There was a bandage on her cheek while a fresh bruise surrounded her right eye. But most obvious was the sling around her neck and the way her jacket slipped off her left shoulder. "Honest."

"You're obviously not fine!" Gene closed the distance between them. She gripped the redhead's chin and tilted her head to get a better look. "That's a wicked shinah you've got…" She ran her thumb along the bruise, stopping when Renee winced. "What happened?"

"Raiders. A whole fucking lot of them." She scowled. "I had to take on almost five at once since most of the idiots on the force are, well, fucking idiots."

Gene's expression sobered. "Listen, why don't you head upstairs and relax? I'll be theah soon. I could give you a massage."

"I'm too sore for that." Renee sighed and limped toward the stairs. "I just wanna sleep…"

Gene watched her go before turning to Z0E. "Would you mind…?"

"Of course, ma'am." Z0E lifted a claw in a salute.

The shopkeeper padded upstairs to see Renee slumped on the couch. She sat next to her. "So what'd you do to your arm?"

"Sprained my wrist. I should be fine in a few days. It's not bad." Renee shrugged out of her jacket with a groan. "I didn't think my first attack would be like this…"

"I'm surprised it took three weeks for an attack to happen." Gene placed her hand on Renee's thigh. "Hungry?"

"Nuh-uh." Renee shook her head.

"Thirsty?"

"No."

Gene let her gaze hit the floor. "Is theah anything I can do?"

"Not really." Undoing the knot at the back of her neck, Renee took off the sling and laid it on her jacket. "God, I hate those things." She flexed her hand with a wince.

"Heh. Remembah when you had to stay with me because your arm was broken?" Gene's lips quirked into a smile.

Renee chuckled. "Seems so long ago now but I guess it wasn't…" She gazed up at her girlfriend. "You really saved my life that day."

Gene didn't have a response. She tried not to think about Davey and all the things he put Renee through. Instead, she leaned over to kiss her. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat," she murmured.

"I'd let you." Renee reached up to cup Gene's cheek. She yelped as she used her injured hand.

"Hey, careful." Gene cradled Renee's hurt wrist in both her hands and smoothed down the bandages wrapped around it. "Please tell me you at least have a few days off to recovah."

The redhead nodded with a sigh. "I do. Can't shoot my rifle with only one hand." Her shoulders slumped forward. "And the captain said that when I do go back to work he's putting me on nights."

"What? Why?"

"One of the night guards apparently fell off the scaffolding around the gate. Broke both his legs."

Gene winced. "Ouch."

"So I'm taking his shifts for the next few months."

"I see." She lightly traced over Renee's palm. "You should stay heah for the night."

Renee shook her head and started to get up. "I can take care of myself, Gene. Just because I come home a little banged up doesn't mean you need to baby me."

"I'm not allowed to want to help?" Gene's brow furrowed. "Short stack, come on—"

"I said no." She grabbed her jacket. "I'm going back to my apartment. I just wanted to stop by and let you know what's going on."

Gene followed her downstairs. "I meant it would probably be easiah on you if you stuck around."

"I know what you meant, okay?" She clicked her tongue for Noodle's attention and opened the front door for him to go out. "Listen. I know you worry about me. I get it. I'm kinda clumsy and I'm basically a bullet magnet. But you know what else? I'm twenty-six fucking years old and I don't need you acting like my mom."

"I—"

"God, just what is with you lately, Gene?" Renee took a step toward her as she began to unload. "Ever since I took this job I feel like all you ever do is nag me and smother me. I get that you're worried but for fuck's sake let me do my goddamn job! Did you just forget that I used to be a caravan guard?"

Gene felt her stomach bottom out. "I didn't…"

"I've been through hell and back just to get here. You don't… You don't even know what I've gone through and what I've done! You really think I'm gonna let some two-bit raider take me out? You have that little faith in me?" Renee shook her head. "I might be smaller than you, but I'm not helpless. I think it's time you learned that."

The shopkeeper took a deep breath to steady herself. She narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to lose you like I lost my parents, Renee." Her voice was soft. "I can't."

"You won't. But if you don't quit trying to 'protect' me, you _will_ lose me as a girlfriend." Renee shook her head. "Good night, Gene."

She watched Renee go and flinched as the door slammed shut. She turned to Z0E. "Have I really been that bad?"

Z0E nodded.

Gene ran a hand through her hair. "Shit…"

* * *

"Miss Jones!" Z0E beeped when Renee walked in the door. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming around anymore."

"You don't see me for a few days and all of a sudden I'm gone forever?" Renee quirked an eyebrow.

"In my defense, when I last saw you it was while you and Miss Dandridge were arguing."

The redhead rubbed the back of her neck and frowned. "Yeah…"

"Z0E, tell whoevah that is that we're closed! It's Saturday!" Gene's voice echoed down from the apartment.

"Of course, ma'am!" Z0E stepped to the side. "It's up to you what to do."

Renee winked as she walked past the Assaultron and headed upstairs. The constant hum of Gene's sewing machine masked her footsteps on the wood floor, allowing her to sneak in and lounge on the couch. She crossed her legs where she sat.

"Z0E, did that customah leave?" Gene called.

"No ma'am!"

"God damn it, why don't people read the fucking sign…" Gene cut the power to the machine and stood.

Renee smirked at her girlfriend's surprised expression. "Hey baby."

"What are you doing heah?" Gene blinked and glanced her over. "I thought you were done with me. Or are you back to yell at me some more?" She didn't bother hiding the bitterness from her voice.

Renee's face slipped into a neutral expression. "I'm not gonna yell at you. I… I did some thinking the past few days. And I'm sorry."

"You…really think just saying sorry is going to make things bettah?"

"I know it won't. Please just listen to me." Renee made to stand.

Gene crossed her arms and stood over her. "No, you listen to me. I get that you're upset but can't you at least try to undahstand why I feel like I do? You're all I have, short stack. God, life was so much easiah when it was just me!" She gave an aggravated sigh and ran both hands through her hair. She began to pace. "Before you I just had me and Z0E, and no one else and I didn't have to worry about what anyone else was doing or if they were all right, or—or if they were dead—"

Renee stood and grabbed Gene's hands. "I know. I know. I know that. And I forget."

"And all these goddamn nightmares make everything worse and I just…can't help it." Gene hung her head. "I have nevah had anyone like you before. And I don't… I don't know what to do." Her voice was barely above a whimper.

"Look at me." Renee reached up to brush her fingertips along Gene's cheekbone. "You're doing just fine. I should know better. I mean, I'm the one with all the relationship experience, right?" She chuckled and swiped a rogue tear away with her thumb. "Hey now, no need to get _that_ emotional. I'm just fine. You're not gonna lose me. I'm right here."

Gene bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I keep forgetting that this is all new for you and it's not fair. I'll do my best to remember." She pulled Gene into an embrace. "Damn it, if you weren't so fucking tall then this would be a little more romantic."

Gene crushed her in a hug.

"If you were literally any other woman, I'd have a real problem being this close to your boobs."

"I love you, short stack." Gene rested her head on top of Renee's.

"Yeah yeah, I love you too."


	5. Bongo Bongo Bongo

Renee guarded the dim glow of her lighter from the darkness as she lit the cigarette between her lips. She flicked the lighter shut and shoved it in her pocket. At her side, Noodle whimpered and pawed at her boot. She blew a puff of smoke into the air. "Yeah yeah, I know Gene wouldn't like it. Who are you, the smoking police?"

Noodle sat down and wagged his tail.

She rolled her eyes.

It was the last night of the first week of evening shifts for Renee. Already she could tell the next few months were going to be utter hell; meaning, beyond boring. At least the nights were a bit cooler than the daytime. Anything was better than standing around in the sun.

She clicked her tongue for Noodle to follow as she walked around. As usual, nothing crept up on the Great, Green Jewel. Most of the time she wondered why they even bothered setting up around-the-clock guard shifts. But then she remembered what few attacks she had been through and gave a sigh as she realized the shifts were definitely needed. Fucking Commonwealth.

Noodle broke her train of thought as he began to bark and growl. "What is it?" She flicked the safety off on her rifle. "What's out there?"

The Nightstriker took off into the darkness. Renee scrambled to follow him. "Noodle!" She dropped her cigarette as she went along. "Noodle, heel!"

He kept barking and running ahead, weaving through the small alleys and piles of debris. Renee stumbled in the darkness and could feel both knees in her pants were ragged holes. "Noodle!" She growled, trying to catch up with him.

She nearly tripped over him when he stopped in a small dead-end formed by three other buildings. "Noodle, I swear to god I'm gonna—"

There was a rustle of movement nearby.

Noodle whimpered and backed up, his ears pressed against his head. His tail was tucked between his legs and he gave a loud whine. Renee looked around but she could see little in the night. She gripped her rifle.

"Who's there?" She swallowed hard. "I'm part of the Diamond City Security! If you don't want to be shot, come out now!" She raised the gun.

A can rolled out from the doorway of one of the buildings.

Renee jumped and whirled, aiming at it. Her finger twitched on the trigger. "I mean it! I'll shoot!" She swept her gaze back and forth, back and forth.

There was another rustle as the mystery criminal moved.

"This is your last warning!" Renee made a show of cocking her rifle and sending an unused bullet to the ground. It clattered on the cement.

Noodle barked as a large figure came out from the shadows. It stood easily two feet above Renee, with two curved horns on the top of its head. A long tail swished behind it.

"D…Deathclaw…" Renee slid one foot backward. The memory of Gene's Deathclaw story flashed through her mind and she felt her mouth go dry. "Nice…lizard…"

"I'm not going to hurt you." The Deathclaw moved forward as it spoke.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Her eyes narrowed. Then it clicked. "W-wait, you…"

It lunged forward and clapped one scaly hand over her mouth. "Don't scream!"

Instead, she fainted.

* * *

Some time later, Renee came to again, mostly due to Noodle hissing in her face and tickling her nose with his tongue. She swatted him away and pushed herself up. "Ugh…" Her head ached and she reached up to rub her temples.

"Feeling any better?"

Renee shrieked and scrambled away from the Deathclaw, only to fall off an old bed. She grunted upon hitting the ground. "S-stay back! I'll shoot!" She glanced around for her gun, but she couldn't find it. "I've got fire!" She grabbed her lighter and flicked it open, brandishing the small flame.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Please, just put the lighter away and listen to me." The Deathclaw stayed a good distance from her, raising its claws in a signal for peace.

She slowly got to her feet and put away the lighter. "Okay. Okay…" She took a breath. "Clearly I hit my head and I'm hallucinating. Maybe I got clocked by a Raider. I tripped. Something." Renee glanced it up and down. "Fine. Who— What are you, exactly?"

"Simply put, a talking Deathclaw. My name is Lawrence." He drew his lips back in an attempted smile. "And you are?"

"Renee Jones. And, uh, this is Noodle." She knelt to pet the Nightsriker. "Since this is all a dream or whatnot I'm going to pretend this isn't weird."

Lawrence sat on the ground. "Miss Jones, this isn't a dream. Please, you have to believe me. I need help."

"You're a Deathclaw, what could you possibly need help for?" Renee tilted head.

"My…colleagues and I are modified Deathclaws. The Institute made us, quite some time ago. And now that the Institute has been destroyed, they want revenge." He shifted. "But I don't believe humans are bad. I like humans. So I'm here to warn you."

Renee was quiet for a time. She continued to pet Noodle as she thought. "Suppose you're right and I'm not dreaming. How am I supposed to help you?"

"I… I'm not sure. I honestly didn't think I'd get this far." Lawrence shrugged with a sheepish grin.

"Hm…" She nodded. "I know just the guy. Nate Howard should know what to do. He's the one who—"

"The Sole Survivor?!" Lawrence bounded forward.

Renee shrieked. "Hey hey hey!"

"I've always wanted to meet Nate Howard! Oh, he's so cool! I loved hearing about all his adventures on the radio!"

"I'm sorry, what?" She blinked.

Lawrence continued to gush. "Like the time he helped the U.S.S. Constitution, and the time he helped those Brotherhood soldiers at the police station, and— Oh my gosh. He's married to Piper Wright, isn't he?! Oh my god I've always wanted to read a copy of _Publick Occurrences_!"

"Wait a minute. You've heard about all this from the Diamond City radio station?" Renee arched an eyebrow. "How the hell…?"

"We lived below the Institute, deep in a forgotten part of the sewers. While everyone else listened to the classical radio station I always preferred Diamond City Radio." He sighed. "I've always wanted to be a radio host myself…"

"Now I know I'm dreaming." She stood up, brushing herself off. "A talking Deathclaw who's DCR's number-one fan? Yeah, okay. Listen Lawrence, it's been fun, but I'm outta here. I've got a job to do and I think I need to have Dr. Sun check out my head."

Lawrence got to his feet as well. "Wait wait wait, you have to believe me!"

Renee stopped. "If you're still here on my next night shift, then we'll talk." She rubbed the back of her neck. "God, if all of this turns out to be true it's gonna be real fucking hard to convince everyone else."

"Okay. I'll be here, I promise! Thank you!" He stepped forward to pat her head.

"Uh… Yeah."

* * *

True to her word, a few days later Renee went to look for Lawrence. She tried to remember all the twists and turns Noodle led her through the first time, but it was beginning to prove impossible. Fortunately, Lawrence made it easy for her.

" _Bongo bongo bongo I don't wanna leave the Congo, oh no-no-no-no-no!_ "

She could only assume the gravelly undertone was Lawrence's attempt at singing. With Danny Kaye and the Andrews Sisters as her guides, she was able to find him quick enough. To her surprise, he sat in the middle of the alley, swaying back and forth and singing along. To her even greater surprise, he was actually _real_.

"Well, I'll be damned." She sighed and rubbed her eyes with her forefinger and thumb. "Okay, Lawrence. I guess I'm helping you stop a group of Deathclaws now."

"Oh, Miss Jones!" Lawrence flicked off the radio and stood to face her. "See? I told you that it wasn't a hallucination."

She smiled weakly. "Yeah, I guess… And hey, call me Renee. I get enough 'Miss Jones' from my girlfriend's robot."

He cocked his head.

"Gene, my girlfriend. She has a robot named Z0E that helps her out around the store. Uh, _Wicked Aesthetics_."

Lawrence's amber eyes brightened. "I've heard of that! She had a radio ad a year or so ago!"

"So you've heard of everyone except me?" Renee grimaced. "Figures… But anyway. Now I need to find a way to get Nate and Piper to believe me and come see you."

"Think you could bring some food back when you do? I don't have a lot of chances to go hunting." He sat down again.

She rolled her eyes. "Didn't think I'd ever be taking orders from a _Deathclaw_ …"

Lawrence just turned the radio back on.


	6. They Just Wanna

Piper put down her Nuka-Cola with a soft _clink_ against the table. "You really expect us to believe all that?"

"That's…a pretty tall order." Nate scratched his head.

"Short stack, are you sure you're okay?"

Renee rubbed the back of her neck and sighed, averting her gaze. "Look, I know it doesn't seem real. I didn't believe it at first either. But even if you don't believe me, can you at least come see? Humor me a little?"

The surrounding din of The Dugout Inn filled the awkward silence. Nate leaned forward, pushing his empty plate away, and glanced at Piper. "Did he tell you exactly _why_ these Deathclaws want to kill us?"

"No, he just said they do." The redhead sighed again. "You're right, it's stupid. Maybe I _do_ need my head checked out…"

Piper shared a look with Nate and Gene. "No one said it was stupid, Renee." Her expression softened. "And no one said they didn't believe you. We'll go pay Lawrence a visit. All of us."

Gene grimaced. "Actually, I—"

" _All of us_." The reporter narrowed her eyes.

Renee gazed over at her girlfriend. Gene's face turned an unhealthy shade of white. "Listen, babe, if you don't want to come, I understand."

The shopkeeper took a breath and shook her head. "No, I need to come along. I should support you no matter what, even when you start saying stuff about talking—talking Deathclaws." Her voice squeaked a bit but she coughed to cover it.

"Great. Then let's go now." Nate tossed some caps on the table and stood. "Vadim! Great dinner as usual!"

"Only the best for you, my friend!" Vadim laughed as they left, sending Yefim to go clean up their table.

Noodle met the group as they walked outside. He jumped on Gene with a happy hiss. She gave his head a pat.

"Uh, just how far away is this guy?" Piper gestured to the bag Renee had slung over her shoulder.

"He wanted me to bring him some food. He said he can't really go hunting in the Ruins. Which makes sense, I guess. There's too many people and he doesn't like humans. Like to eat." Renee shifted it on her shoulder. "Just…come on."

The group headed out Diamond City's front gate into the Ruins. Just earlier that day, Renee finally pulled everyone together and spun them the tale of Lawrence and what little information he gave her. She figured since she had a day off, it would be a good time to bring them all to the Deathclaw; at least, it would be easier for her. To her surprise they actually agreed. _Gene_ actually agreed, of all people.

Noodle scampered ahead and kept barking at them to hurry. Gene walked close behind Renee, her hands shoved deep in the pockets of her bomber jacket. "I hope to god you just have a concussion or something, short stack…"

"That's not a sentence I ever expected to hear from you." Renee arched an eyebrow. "I told you that it was okay if you didn't come. I know you don't like Deathclaws."

"That's an understatement."

"Do you hear that?" Nate stopped and grabbed for his pistol.

They all stilled. Soft music drifted between the buildings, clearly from a radio. Renee nodded. "We're close. Come on."

As they neared Noodle didn't bother to wait for them and soon disappeared down an alley. Once they turned the corner, they were greeted to Lawrence petting the Nightstriker. He looked up. "Renee, you're back!"

"Just like I promised." She stepped forward and shrugged off the bag of food.

Gene gaped at him. She sputtered out a series of disconnected sounds before finally grabbing Renee's arm and pulling the redhead in front of her. "What the fuck?!"

"You must be Gene Dandridge." Lawrence stood and extended a clawed hand. "Lawrence."

"H-how does it know who I am? How do you know who I am?!" She glanced between his claws and his face.

"Gene, I told him about you. I mean, I told him I had a girlfriend. He's heard your radio ad before." Renee pried Gene's fingers off her arms. "And he's completely harmless."

Gene grumbled and tried to put as much distance between herself and Lawrence as she could.

Piper, meanwhile, already had her notebook in hand and a pen in the other. She flipped to a clean page. "This is amazing! How'd you find a talking Deathclaw? This is gonna make a great story!" She began scribbling notes.

Lawrence gasped and hunched down to her level. "Oh my gosh. You're Piper Wright!" He grinned, flashing his rather sharp teeth. "Right?"

Piper nodded. "That's right! So, first question: how did you learn to talk?"

He ignored her as his gaze moved on to Nate. "Then you're…"

"Nate Howard, Minuteman General. Good to meet you." Nate holstered his pistol and held out a hand.

Lawrence squeaked and bounded to him, skidding to a halt just before he bowled the poor man over. "You're the Sole Survivor!" He gripped Nate's hand and shook it up and down. "I'm a huge fan, huge fan! I've listened to every radio newscast about you!" He finally let Nate go and sat back, using his tail for support. "Oh my god, I didn't think I'd actually get to meet _the_ Sole Surivor!" His amber eyes sparkled and he practically bounced. "Oh, oh! Can you tell that story about the U.S.S. Constitution? I loved that!"

Renee laughed and placed her hand on his leg. "We've got time for that later, Lawrence. Right now, we have bigger problems. Remember?"

"Oh, right." Lawrence shook himself as he stood again. "Sorry about that. So, I assume Renee told you what's going on."

"Not really." Piper flipped back a few pages in her notebook. "All we know is that you exist and some Deathclaws want to kill us."

Nate crossed his arms. "I was hoping you could shed some light on the situation."

Lawrence took a moment for thought before he took a deep breath. "We were created by the Institute years ago. I don't know how long ago; but it's been quite some time. The scientists managed to get their hands on a Deathclaw sample from a Courser and decided they wanted to try making their own."

"As weapons?" Nate frowned, his eyes narrowing.

"As weapons, as food… Something. They used some kind of modified FEV in hopes of making us bigger and dumber. Perfect for following orders." Lawrence ran his tongue along his teeth. "It didn't work."

Piper snorted. "Clearly."

"Whatever the case, my colleagues and I came out smarter and smaller than normal Deathclaws. We're faster, yes, but not as strong. But…" He looked to Renee. "Shoot me."

Renee grabbed her rifle off her back and cocked it. "Stand back everyone."

"What are you doing?" Nate glanced between them.

She didn't answer as she shot off three rounds. Lawrence didn't even flinch and straightened his arm, allowing the crushed bullets to fall to the ground. "We are nigh indestructible."

Even Gene stepped forward to look at the bullets. Nate picked one up. "This isn't good…"

"And these things want to kill us?" Gene gazed at Lawrence.

He nodded. "They have always believed themselves to be superior to humans. We lived deep in the sewers beneath the Institute, out of sight and out of mind. But we always knew what was going on, mostly." He shook his head. "We learned to talk from the radio shows and listening to the scientists above us. While everyone else moved on to the classical station, I stayed behind and preferred to listen to _Diamond City Radio_."

"Which is how you know about all of us." Piper tapped her pen to her chin for a moment before she scribbled another note. "Interesting. So, back to the killing thing…"

"When the Institute was destroyed, so was the classical radio station."

Silence fell over the alley, save for Noodle, who sat hissing for attention. Renee sighed and rubbed her eyes with her forefinger and thumb. "You mean to tell me they want to kill humans and rage war on the Commonwealth because Nate happened to destroy a goddamn _radio station_?"

Lawrence scratched at his neck. "Y…yes?"

"That's the most ridiculous fucking thing I've ever—"

Nate stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I've heard of people killing for less. Hell, I fought for less."

The Deathclaw shuffled a moment. "The radio station getting cut was more like a catalyst. They'd been planning to attack for years but never really had a reason to. Now they do."

"So how long do we have?" Gene clenched her jaw as she stepped toward him.

"I don't know. Considering how long it took them to decide to actually form a plan of attack, I don't think they'll be actually getting a plan together any time soon. But that doesn't mean they never won't."

"So we need to use that to our advantage." Nate crossed his arms and looked to the side in thought. "I need to think about how to proceed. If nothing else, I can see we're going to need help with this. And I know just the person."

Piper clicked her pen and slipped her notebook in her pocket. "Anyone I know?"

"Dr. Brian Virgil. He's an expert on FEV." Nate's gaze fell and he frowned. "But there's a few problems with that."

"Such as?" Gene cocked her head.

"He lives in the Glowing Sea, for one." He glanced to Piper, who shuddered at the memories. "But more importantly, he hates us for blowing up the Institute. Meaning Piper and myself. So we wouldn't be able to go fetch him." He settled his gaze on Gene and Renee.

Renee glanced at her girlfriend. "Feel like going swimming?"


	7. I Give In So Easily

Gene's gaze flickered over Renee. She reached up to lightly brush her fingertips over the woman's freckles, along her nose and down her jaw. Like many nights, she'd been largely unable to sleep; but she bided her time by knowing Renee was safe in her arms.

The redhead shifted, pulling the blankets close.

 _"He can send some Minutemen, short stack. We don't have to do this."_

 _"You don't have to do this. But I do. I want to. I want to help. I found Lawrence in the first place so I might as well see it out to the end."_

She couldn't help a bitter smile. Renee always wanted to spring into action and help everyone else but herself. For the most part she didn't cause trouble that way, but sometimes she got wrapped up in things she had no business being in. Like volunteering to go into the Glowing Sea.

Gene sighed and brushed back some copper hair from Renee's forehead. In only a few hours, they five—meaning herself, Renee, Nate, Piper, and Lawrence—would hike to the edge of the Glowing Sea. Nate and Piper wouldn't be joining them for the journey to Dr. Virgil's cave; no, Renee said she wanted to tackle that part.

 _"What kinda girlfriend would I be if I just let you go alone?!"_

 _"I know you have that whole thing with Deathclaws, Gene, you don't have to come!"_

 _"I want to be theah for you!"_

As the sun continued to rise, a niggling thought in the back of Gene's mind grew louder. She kept cursing the fact Lawrence wasn't lying. Rather, that Nate didn't think Lawrence was lying. "Even if they aren't preparing for attack, the fact there's at least one talking Deathclaw is enough for me to take action to either prevent or destroy others," he'd said. "Who knows what they're truly capable of."

She wrapped an arm around Renee and pulled her close, burying her nose in the woman's soft hair. Life was so much simpler before. Before Lawrence, before she befriended Nate and Piper, before Renee… Before her parents died. Before the store. Before Z0E and Becky and everything else.

Renee stirred in her arms and lifted her head. She yawned and blinked her eyes. "Mm, good morning…" She smiled.

Gene cupped her cheek. "Good morning, babe." She pressed a kiss to Renee's lips.

Life was simpler then. But it was worth it to see the light in her eyes.


	8. But I Won't Fall

"And here's this."

Gene watched the Pip-Boy boot to life as Nate latched it to her wrist. "Are you sure?" She flicked one of the dials, hearing static crackle through the small speaker.

"You'll need it to get to Dr. Virgil's cave. Just follow the map." Nate switched to the map interface and showed her how to navigate it.

She continued to fiddle with it. "Huh, this's pretty wicked. I gotta get one of these."

Piper handed off a large bottle of Rad-X to Renee. "You'll need these too."

"Uh, Piper, not to be rude, but I think it's gonna take a lot more than just this to keep us from turning into burnt bacon in there." Renee jerked her thumb toward the Glowing Sea just as some lightning flashed in the ever-present mist.

"Those are from one of Curie's special batches. They're incredibly potent, but I don't suggest taking more than you have to." Nate walked around them to stand next to his wife. "Fortunately the Pip-Boy has a Geiger counter on it, so when you hear ticking, just take one of those."

"You should have more than enough to get to Virgil and back." Piper forced a smile. "You're sure you two are up to this?"

Renee nodded and cocked her rifle. "Hey, if we don't do it, then who will?"

"The entire Minutemen force." Gene frowned.

"I told you that you didn't have to come." Renee rolled her eyes. "All right, we'll be back in a few days with Virgil!" She turned with a wave.

Piper returned it. "We'll be waiting!"

Lawrence lumbered beside them on his hind legs, his front claws barely scraping the ground. He snorted as Gene and Renee each downed a pill to quell the ticking from the Pip-Boy. "The Glowing Sea… Dangerous, even for me."

"Yeah, but with the three of us we'll be fine." Renee shrugged. "So, how long do you suppose it'll take us to get there?"

Gene glanced at the map. "If we keep moving and don't get off course… A day."

The trio continued to walk through the radiation, occasionally popping a Rad-X pill or waiting for Ghouls to pass by. With Lawrence on their side, the few Radscorpions that attacked were quickly dealt with, and neither woman even had to waste a bullet. He kept them steered away from danger using his heightened senses and strength. Though the detours were short, they began to add up.

So it was when suddenly they found themselves at the bottom of a small cliffside formed by the fallen remnants of an expressway. "Well, this is a problem." Renee tried to peer around it. "Damn, this thing stretches for miles. We could climb it, maybe?"

"It's not on the map, eithah." Gene tapped at the Pip-Boy screen. She groaned. "Fuck."

"We'll have to find a way around it somehow. Or else we'll have to backtrack." Lawrence ran at the old road and tried to climb it. His claws scratched at the asphalt but didn't catch. "Hmph." He landed on the ground with a solid thud.

"And lose three hours of travel? Hell no." She groaned again as the Pip-Boy began ticking rapidly. "Short stack."

"On it." Renee grabbed the bottle of Rad-X pills and dumped two out. She tossed one to Gene while popping the other in her mouth. "Mm, chemicals." She grimaced.

Gene swallowed hard. "Bettah than radiation poisoning."

Lawrence turned and sniffed at the air. His amber eyes narrowed. "We've got company, ladies."

Renee grabbed her rifle and reloaded. "Deathclaw." She glanced back at Gene. "We've got this. Just try to find a way around this thing, okay?"

"Right." Gene continued trying to analyze the map.

Lawrence roared and met the other Deathclaw halfway, slamming into it with a crack like thunder. He tried to bite at its neck. "Renee!" He shouted, pinning it to the ground.

Renee aimed and pulled the trigger.

The Deathclaw growled as the bullet hit its shoulder. It managed to hurl Lawrence off and roll to its feet, setting its sights on the redhead. It roared, running forward. Renee readied another bullet and fired. Again. Again. Again.

Lawrence leapt on it as it fell, snapping his jaws to the Deathclaw's neck. Just as he was about to pull away, it tossed him off again. Blood oozed from its multiple bullet wounds but it clearly didn't have any intention of giving in quite yet.

Renee rushed to put another magazine in her rifle when she heard more footsteps. "Gene!" She turned to see a second Deathclaw running at Gene. "Gene! Gene, move!"

The Deathclaw came ever closer. Gene took a step back. She fumbled to reload her shotgun, the shells falling to the ground. It roared.

"Renee, shoot it!" Lawrence struggled with the first Deathclaw.

"Lawrence, I—" She glanced between them and turned. "Gene!" Renee sprinted toward her, dropping her rifle to the ground.

Right as the Deathclaw went to scoop Gene into its jaws, Renee managed to shove her to the side. Instead, she felt sharp teeth sink down into her left leg. The next moment it flung her against the fallen expressway. She heard rather than felt the sharp cracks of her bones breaking and rolled to the bottom. Then, she heard nothing at all.

* * *

Gene picked herself up in time to see Renee hit the ground. "Sh-short stack…" She looked up at the Deathclaw and noticed a bloody, torn piece of cloth in its teeth.

It roared again and glared at her.

Gone was the paralyzing fear from before. Gene snapped her shotgun back together and loosed both shells into the beast at once. She wasted no time in reloading and firing again. It staggered backward as she blasted it with lead.

"Move!" Lawrence barreled toward them.

Gene dove to the side in time for Lawrence to leap on top of the Deathclaw, biting down on its neck and ripping out a chunk of flesh and scales.

With the present danger taken care of, Gene ran to where Renee lay. "Short stack! Oh god, Renee, please don't—"

Her foot nudged something. She looked down to see one of Renee's boots, still attached to her leg, while the rest of Renee's body laid a few yards away. Immediately she turned to vomit. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and glanced at the leg again. Blood leaked out onto the dusty ground and she tried to take a breath to calm herself.

She stumbled to Renee's side. Bile rose in her throat again and she struggled to keep it down. "G… Gotta control the…" She blindly dug around for the Stimpaks they brought along. Her eyes stung and she tasted acid on her tongue. Finally she couldn't hold it back any longer and turned to vomit again.

Blood. So much blood. And…bone. Her gaze swept over the ragged, bloody mess where Renee's left knee used to be. Gene shucked off her jacket and wriggled out of her t-shirt, ripping off the bottom half in an effort to keep some of the bleeding contained. She ripped off the short sleeves to wrap around her left arm—trying to mind the jagged bones sticking through the skin as she did so.

"G… G-Gene…"

"Renee!" She tied off the makeshift bandages ( _Oh god, they're soaked in blood already, what the fuck am I supposed to do_ ) and jabbed Renee with two Stims at once. "You're okay, you'll be okay." She tried to find more injuries, anything life-threatening, but it was all life-threatening, _her leg is fucking GONE_.

Renee's eyes were cloudy with pain and she coughed, flecks of blood splattering her lips. "I… I c-can't feel my—my leg." She flinched with a low groan. "Wh-why can't I feel my leg…"

"Just look at me, focus on me." Gene noticed the obvious deformities through Renee's upper arm and shoulder. _God damn it!_ "Lawrence! Get ovah heah!"

Renee groaned again and shifted with a sharp cry. "Hurts…" Her voice was weak and her chest rose and fell rapidly.

"Don't move. Just lie still." Gene tried to move Renee's left arm, eliciting a weak scream from her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"She needs a doctor." Lawrence stood over them. He snorted. "Quickly."

"You think I don't know that?!" Gene tried to gather Renee in her arms. "I'm trying to be gentle, I know it hurts…" She winced at the woman's cries of pain.

Renee suddenly raised her hand to cup Gene's face. "G-Gene, wait, the—mission…"

"Fuck the mission! You're fucking _dying_!"

"You need t-to find—Dr. Virgil." Renee clenched her teeth. She coughed again, more blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth.

Gene shook her head. Tears pooled in her eyes. "You're more important!"

"Gene." Lawrence placed one clawed hand on her shoulder. "Renee is right. You have a job to do. I can take her back to Piper and Nate; but you have to find Dr. Virgil."

"My life isn't…isn't worth risking hundreds of o-other people." Renee forced a smile but it came across more as a grimace.

Gene felt her tears start to roll down her cheeks. " _Yes_ , you are! You're everything to me, Renee!" She grabbed the lapels of Renee's jacket. "Do you hear me?!"

Renee's eyes flickered shut again with a final groan. Her head lolled and she went slack.

"Renee!" Gene shook her, perhaps more roughly than she should. "Short stack, god fucking damn it, Renee…" She took a shaky breath. "Why did you…"

"Gene. Let me take her back to Nate and Piper." Lawrence shifted in front of her.

Gene looked up. "If I continue moving, will you be able to find me?"

"You have a distinct scent. It won't be hard." He nodded.

She gathered up Renee's unconscious body in her arms, ignoring the crunching of her bones, and deposited her in Lawrence's waiting claws. She pressed a kiss to Renee's forehead. "I love you…"

Lawrence took off in a run back to the edge of the Glowing Sea. Gene wiped her eyes and stood, staring after him. She slipped what remained of her shirt back on and pulled on her jacket. "I'm sorry, short stack." She turned to face the rest of the Glowing Sea, knowing somewhere deep within, Dr. Virgil's cave lay hidden. "Wait for me."


	9. I Feel You Slipping Away

The blip on the map blinked in and out. Gene looked up to see the mouth of a cave. "I guess this is it."

"So it seems." Lawrence stood beside her, his tail swishing back and forth. "Well, how do you propose we tackle this?"

"I… I don't know." She furrowed her brow. "Renee was going to…"

 _"I'll handle the talking, you handle the hitting. If we need to knock him out and drag him back we will, but I can probably convince him to come along."_

Lawrence snorted. "I see."

"I'll try to talk some sense into him. Be ready just in case. You can be sneaky, right?"

He responded by slipping into the cave, swallowed by darkness. Gene squared her shoulders and followed suit. She blinked to adjust her eyes to the sudden change, and once she could see clearly she was surprised to see a few turrets aimed at her. Yet they remained still.

"They're not powered up." Lawrence's voice was soft, raspy. She could barely see his eyes in the darkness.

She nodded once. Gene cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders. How would Renee go about trying to convince a very bitter scientist to help the people he hated most? She took a deep breath. _God…_

"Dr. Virgil?" She called, stepping into the cave proper.

There was a rustle of movement. Soon, a tall, broad-shouldered man came out from behind a group of servers. "Hm? Who are you?" His eyes were narrowed and he frowned.

 _Off to a great start._ "My name is Gene Dandridge, and I—"

"I don't know anyone named Gene. Or Dandridge, for that matter. How did you find me?" He towered over her.

She held up her arm with the Pip-Boy. "With this. Anyway, listen, we need your help."

He whipped out a hand to grab her wrist. "Where did you get this?"

"From Nate Howard. Anyway—"

"Leave." He dropped her arm and turned his back to her. "I told him I wanted nothing more to do with him. Any friend of his is an enemy of the Institute."

 _"One great way to get others to listen to you is make them think it's their idea."_

Gene clenched her jaw. She had no idea how she was supposed to spin this situation to make it seem like his idea. "I know you're still upset about that, but we have biggah problems on our hands. Deathclaws modified by the Institute are hell-bent on killing off the Commonwealth. And you're the only person who knows enough about FEV to help us."

"You all deserve such a fate for what you've done. The Institute was this wasteland's best hope, and what did you do? Blew it sky high! All that technology, that research… Gone!" Dr. Virgil pounded his fist on a nearby table. "I wouldn't help you if my life depended on it."

"Dr. Virgil—"

" _Leave me_."

 _"It's important to remain calm and keep your voice low when you're getting into an argument. Short sentences are key."_

Gene inhaled sharply. "You don't understand. You're coming back with me."

"I've made it clear I'm not leaving this cave with anyone."

Behind him, Gene could see Lawrence in position. She shook her head. "You're wrong."

With that, Lawrence hit the scientist in the back of the head just enough to render him unconscious. He stood over the fallen man and snorted. "I'd hoped it wouldn't have come to that."

"Me too." Gene searched for something she could use as a makeshift rope and tied his hands together. "Mind, uh, you know…"

Lawrence tossed Brian over his shoulder. "No problem."

She turned and began walking out of the cave, back to the Glowing Sea. Back to Renee.

* * *

Honestly, Gene hadn't paid much attention after finally getting back to Piper. _Alive_. Renee was _alive_. She was alive and in Vault 81, the only place in the Commonwealth with a facility advanced enough and prepared enough to handle injuries like hers.

"Officer Edwards here, state your business."

She shifted from foot to foot as Piper talked with the intercom.

"Piper Wright-Howard here with Gene Dandridge and Dr. Brian Virgil." Piper unclipped the Pip-Boy from her arm in preparation to give it back to her husband. "He's been expecting us."

"Right. I'll open the door. Welcome to Vault 81."

The giant lead door began to move, groaning as it rolled to the side and revealed the vault. She couldn't help herself; as soon as it showed any signs of life she dashed toward it, not wanting to waste any time. "Nate!" She called, seeing him. "Nate, wheah is she?"

Nate gave her a nod before turning to his wife. "Take Dr. Virgil to Curie. She's in the scientist's sector. Through that door." He jerked his head toward the door leading to the "secret" Vault 81.

"Got it. Come on." Piper pulled the rope holding Dr. Virgil's hands.

"I am not an animal…" He grumbled, stomping after her.

Nate returned his attention to Gene. "Follow me."

He led her to the main elevator leading down into the vault itself.

Gene couldn't punch the button hard enough. Her mind was a whirlwind and her heart pounded in her chest. Renee was…was alive.

"Gene, listen to me." Nate sighed and looked away.

"She's alive, that's all I care about," she growled.

"For now."

The elevator doors opened. Gene whipped her head up to stare at him. "What?" Her brow furrowed.

"Dr. Forsythe isn't sure how much longer she'll hold out. Hell, even Curie is worried. By all accounts she should be dead, Gene. Do you have any idea how much blood she lost? They had to get a pint from almost every resident in this damn Vault to give her." Nate sighed again. "It's not pretty. But if you really want to see her—"

"I need to."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. Follow me." He stepped out of the elevator and led her down to the infirmary.

Dr. Forsythe and Rachel were talking amongst themselves in the front office and turned as Gene and Nate approached. Dr. Forsythe smiled upon seeing Nate. "Good afternoon, Mr. Howard." His gaze swept to Gene. "This must be the young woman you told us about."

"You must be Gene," Rachel said. "Nate told me you would be coming."

"Wheah is she?" Gene looked around, seeing no Renee.

"Follow me." She led them back to a recovery room away from the din of the rest of the clinic. Gene gasped.

A few machines beeped rhythmically as they monitored Renee's sorry state. Her chest barely rose and fell with each labored breath, assisted by the oxygen being forced into her lungs. Her left arm was encased in a proper cast from her shoulder to her fingers; Gene had known her arm had been broken (the image of the stark, white bone jutting out from her dark jacket flashed through her mind), but she was still surprised at it. Beneath the blanket, she could tell bandages covered still more wounds.

"What's…" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Rachel flipped through the clipboard she held. "Three broken ribs, displaced complete fracture of the left ulna and radius, non-displaced complete fracture of the left humerus in two separate places, incomplete fracture of the left clavicle, dislocated left shoulder, several miscellaneous cuts and bruises, some internal bleeding, head trauma, and… Well, you already know about her left leg." She glanced at Renee. "We…had to take off more of her femur. A bit above where her knee would be."

"When will she…"

"Dr. Forsythe and Curie both decided it would be best for her to remain asleep for a time to let her injuries heal. They've kept her sedated since she came in. She'll be kept in a coma for a while yet."

Gene felt her knees start to wobble and collapsed in a chair by Renee's bed. She tried to focus her breathing but it proved difficult.

Rachel looked at Nate. "We'll leave you alone for a bit." She ushered him out of the room, following after.

Renee's brow furrowed and her breath hitched before she relaxed. The machines kept beeping. Gene reached to grip her hand, careful of the needles in her veins. "I'm so sorry…" She hung her head and allowed the tears she'd kept back to fall. "This is all my fault. I nevah should've… I should've…"

She gazed up at Renee's pale face. There were dark circles beneath her eyes and a patch of gauze covered a cut on her cheek. Gene choked out a sob. "P-please, you have to pull through. Please, short stack. I can't…" She drew in a gasping breath. "I can't do this without you."

 _"I'll always come back to you, Gene. I promise."_

Never had she ached so much to see Renee's light blue eyes again. She released Renee's hand and stood, still feeling a bit weak, and leaned over her. "I love you, Renee." She pressed a kiss to Renee's forehead. "I'm sorry…"

Piper had come back from delivering Dr. Virgil to Curie and was waiting in the clinic with everyone else. She stepped toward Gene as the woman left Renee's room. "Gene…"

"It should be me in theah, not her. I'm the one that fucked up, not her!" Gene felt a fresh wave of tears overtake her. "She didn't do anything wrong! She was just…was just…"

Piper drew her into a hug. "She'll be okay. It's just gonna take some time."

"It's all my fault…" Gene whimpered, tightening her grip on the small reporter.

Nate placed his hand on her shoulder. "She's going to need you now more than ever, Gene."

"I know." Gene pulled away and wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm. "I know."


	10. Someone Isn't Me

In the Vault, time held little meaning.

Gene only knew evening came when Rachel forced her to leave the clinic after hours of sitting by Renee's side. Waiting. Hoping. Regretting. And she forced herself to trudge back to Nate's room where he set up a cot for her. She pretended to sleep, waiting until morning to do it all again.

Sleep meant dreaming and dreaming meant nightmares. She was no stranger to night terrors; but having Renee beg her over and over and over again why she didn't do anything, why didn't she just move, why did she allow it to happen… It was almost more than she could bear.

It'd been three days since she came back with Dr. Virgil. Gene staggered out of Renee's room to see Nate and Curie deep in conversation. They stopped upon realizing she was there. "I didn't mean to interrupt," she mumbled.

"Ah, no, you are quite all right. I 'ope we are not interrupting anyzhing 'ere. I wanted to see 'ow Mademoiselle Jones is doing." Curie smiled. "She is still asleep, _oui_?"

"Uh, yeah. Out like a light." Gene glanced away and sighed.

"Hm. It is for zhe best. She 'as a long recovery ahead of 'er." The petite Synth turned back to Nate. "Allow me to check on 'er and I will be back to deal with Dr. Virgil."

Curie stepped into Renee's room, leaving Gene and Nate alone. She looked up at him. "How are things with Virgil coming?"

"Honestly? Not good. He's refusing to help. Not even Piper can get him to talk." Nate sighed and crossed his arms. "It feels like we've spent the last two days talking to a brick wall."

She hummed deep in her throat. "I can try to talk to him. Maybe he'll listen to me."

"Can't hurt." Nate shrugged.

Moments later Curie left Renee's room. "She is…stable, at least."

"Let's get back to Piper. She's probably had enough of Dr. Virgil." Nate nodded and turned to lead the way.

Gene trailed behind Nate and Curie. Her tired eyes swept over the inhabitants of Vault 81 as they passed. She recognized their hesitation, and their pitying glances. By now everyone knew about Renee. And if they knew about Renee, then they knew of her.

It didn't take long to get to the scientists' sector of the vault. The lab where Curie was captive for more than two centuries had been refitted for their purposes. Being, it served as Dr. Brian Virgil's lodging and laboratory…if he ever agreed to assist. Currently it seemed to be more useful as a prison cell.

They arrived in time to see Piper throw her press cap to the floor in frustration. "God damn it, why are you such an ass?!" She shouted.

Curie blinked rapidly. "Oh my."

Dr. Virgil sat in a metal chair, his arms crossed and one leg propped up on the opposite knee, a scowl on his face. "I don't think I can make it any clearer that I won't change my mind."

Nate sighed and rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. "You're really making this harder than it needs to be."

"Hmph." He cocked an eyebrow at Gene. "Oh, it's you."

She stepped over, stopping just in front of him.

 _"You need t-to find—Dr. Virgil."_

"Well?" His frown deepened.

 _"My life isn't…isn't worth risking hundreds of o-other people."_

Before she could stop herself, she punched him. Her fist snapped out and connected with his jaw with a solid thud. He began falling backward but she grabbed the front of his lab coat and pulled him upright. Her eyes narrowed and tinges of scarlet rimmed her vision.

"You mothahfucking bastard, the woman I love might _die_ because of you so the least you can do is help!" She tightened her grip.

"Gene, enough!" Nate put a hand on her shoulder.

But she was far from finished. She shoved Nate away and continued her tirade. "The only reason I'm not gonna beat the shit outta you right now is because we need you. So get off your ass and help, god damn it!" She shook him roughly. "I sweah to god I'm gonna make you wish you'd died in the Institute with the rest of those assholes, you son of a bitch."

"Gene!"

Nate pried her hands away and guided her back. "Gene, I know you're upset but—"

"I'm not gonna let Renee die for no reason!" Gene tried to dive for him but Nate held her back. "None of this would've happened if it hadn't been for you!"

"Get her out of here." Nate looked to Piper and Curie.

Piper grabbed Gene's arm. "Right."

"It's all because of you!" She scrabbled to get away from the two women, but Curie proved to be much stronger than she appeared.

Once they were in the hallway, Gene gave in. She slid down the wall to the floor, slumped over, defeated. "It's… It's his fault…"

Piper sat next to her. "Gene, it's not anybody's fault. What happened to Renee was an accident, pure and simple."

"Mm-hm. And, I do not believe she is in any danger of dying." Curie nodded with a smile. "She 'as been doing better since you returned. Even if she is in a coma, your presence is still helpful."

"R-really?" Gene looked up.

"Really really." The reporter placed a hand on Gene's thigh. "Listen, why don't you head home for a couple days? You need to get some rest."

"I… I could do that." Gene took a deep breath. "Yeah."

Piper got to her feet and held out a hand to help Gene. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on Renee. She's not going anywhere."

"Thanks…" Gene looked up with a small smile. She slid her palm into Piper's and stood.

* * *

"Welcome home, ma'am." Z0E stepped to the side as Gene came in the door.

"Thanks, Z0E." Gene shut it behind her.

"Ma'am, if I may, where is Miss Jones?"

This stopped the shopkeeper. She cleared her throat. "Short stack is… She's in Vault 81." She gazed at the robot. "She's…"

"I understand." Z0E didn't press for further information; instead, she turned to finish her work.

Gene took hardly another step before Noodle came bounding down the stairs. He gave a happy bark and skidded to a stop just before her, flopping on the ground and rolling over. His tail wagged back and forth. He whined for her to pet him, his ears pressed back against his head.

She knelt next to him. Noodle rolled to his feet and laid his head on her knee, his tongue flicking out once. She knew he could tell something was wrong; he was a smart Nightstriker. His amber eyes were wide and he whimpered.

"I'm sorry…" Gene wrapped her arms around him. His scales were rough against her cheek but she paid little attention to it. "I couldn't…"

Noodle pressed against her. She held him closer, wishing, not for the first time, that she could go back in time and make everything okay again.

* * *

"Do you suppose she's dreaming, doctor?"

"It's possible. But I have no way of knowing that for sure. I've heard of cases, read about them from before the war. It's different for everyone."

"God, I wouldn't wish this on anyone."

"Nor would I. Though if Mr. Howard is right, then I have a feeling Miss Dandridge is taking it harder than she ever would."

A sigh. "Still, she's not going to be happy when she wakes up and finds out—"

"No one would be."

The machines beeped in accordance to a sudden change in Renee's vitals but returned to normal shortly after. Dr. Forsythe gazed at the monitors. "Perhaps she is dreaming…"

 _...Why am I in Vault 111?_


	11. Can You Hear My Voice?

She blinked. She swore she only blinked, maybe blinked a few times, but still, she only fucking blinked.

"Blue? Are you feeling okay?"

 _Blue_. There it was. The answer.

"You're really starting to freak me out here."

"Sorry, I'm fine. Just lost in thought." Renee quirked her lips into a small smile. "We should head back."

Piper nodded with a wink. "Don't think I haven't caught on to you, missy. I know exactly what you're after."

"And I was trying so hard to be subtle." Renee laughed as Piper playfully smacked her shoulder.

It felt so normal, and yet…so wrong.

The guards at Diamond City's gate watched them as they entered; but everyone knew their eyes were on Piper. Renee made sure long ago that if she and Piper were together, the guards left the reporter alone. She wasn't causing any trouble.

 _Did… Did I make sure? Or…_

"Piper! Vaultie!" Nat jumped down from her crate and ran to meet them.

"Hey kiddo!" Piper grunted as Nat leapt on her. "Miss us?"

"Yeah!" Nat grinned as she pulled away. "Also Mr. Zwicky wants to see you but I swear it wasn't my fault," she said, forcing the words out all at once.

Piper caught it anyway. "Natalie Wright!"

As the sisters began to argue, Renee let her gaze wander. The streets of Diamond City were bustling with life, as usual. She watched a traveler get irritated with Takahashi and chuckled. Though she couldn't fault the man; she'd done the same thing when she first met the robot.

Her eyes caught a flash of black and brown. "Hm?" She saw a woman with short black hair in a bomber jacket walking through the middle of the market. "Piper, I'll be right back."

"Sure. Anyway—" Piper gave her a nod before turning back to her sister.

Renee jogged to catch up with the mystery woman. The faces of the Diamond City citizens blurred together as she went along. "Hey!" She reached out to her. "Wait!"

Someone taller than herself knocked into her. Once she was back on her feet, the strange woman from before was nowhere to be seen. Renee stopped and glanced around, searching. Her brow furrowed. What…was she searching for, exactly?

She went back to the newspaper office. Nat and Piper finished their argument and were talking when she arrived. "There you are." The reporter smiled. "So, should we head home?"

"Yeah. I don't know about you, but I'm starving." Renee grinned.

" _Renee, you know I can't do this without you_."

"Can't do…what?" She blinked, rather taken aback by Piper's sudden outburst.

"Dinner! You know my cooking isn't as good as yours." Piper gave a sheepish smile. "You always manage to make _something_ good."

Renee nodded and turned to head to the Homeplate. "Right. Sorry."

The trio went right to the marketplace where her apartment was. As they walked, Renee glanced around and noticed she couldn't quite make out anyone. She stopped and rubbed her eyes. The faces of everyone surrounding her were still fuzzy. _Maybe I…hit my head when we…_

She realized she couldn't remember what she'd been doing before coming to Diamond City. "Piper, wait."

The reporter turned. "Hm?" She tilted her head. Unlike the citizens around them, her face was crystal clear.

"What were we doing out in the ruins?"

Piper arced an eyebrow. "Uh, looking for clues on where your son is? Like usual?" She stepped closer. "Are you feeling all right?"

"My…"

Right. Her son. That made— _No._ No, that didn't make sense.

" _I miss you so much._ "

She whirled to see a couple embrace.

Piper put her hand on Renee's shoulder. She turned the woman. " _Short stack_ , you're acting really weird again."

Renee staggered back. "You… You don't call me…"

Beyond her, Renee saw the woman from before. That same shoulder-length ebony hair, the brown bomber jacket… She shoved past the reporter. "None of this is right!" She shouted over her shoulder.

"Blue!" Piper called after her.

But Renee didn't care now. She ran after the woman, blasting past other citizens. She was nearly close enough to grab the woman's arm but then someone else pushed her back. "Wait!" She scrambled to catch up to her.

The woman went into a store Renee couldn't remember ever seeing. She stopped to catch her breath and looked up at the sign. _Wicked Aesthetics_.

Renee opened the door and stepped inside. A blue Assaultron stared at her, as well as a strange animal that looked like a cross between a snake and a dog. She ignored them.

"Gene."

The woman turned.

At once Renee realized where, and what, she was. "This is all a dream, isn't it? I'm dreaming." She shook her head.

" _Short stack, I'm so sorry…_ " Gene's sapphire eyes filled with tears.

"No, no Gene, it's fine! I'm okay! I'm fine!" She reached out to her.

Gene looked away. " _It's all my fault._ "

Renee tried to get to her, tried to grab her. The space between them grew and soon she was running. "Gene!"

" _I never should have let you love me._ "

The floor fell out from under her. Renee reached to grab anything but there was nothing. Nothing but a black, endless void. She looked up to see Noodle and Z0E peering into the hole. "Gene!"

All at once she landed.

"Hey Ren, time to get up!"

Her eyes snapped open and she found herself in a very familiar bed. She sat up and looked to the doorway.

"Olivia?!"


	12. So Much I Need To Say To You

"Short stack, I have someone who wants to see you."

Noodle trotted into the room and put his paws up on the bed next to her arm. He sniffed at her hand and pushed against it. "Mrrh?" He whined, nudging her again.

"Sorry, boy. She can't pet you right now." Gene sat in her usual spot: the chair at Renee's bedside.

The Nightstriker leapt on the mattress and settled between her legs, resting his head on her right shin. He whimpered. His amber eyes were sad as he gazed at Gene, almost as if to ask her why Renee couldn't play.

Gene sighed and gripped Renee's hand. "They told me you can hear what I'm saying, but… I don't know if that's true." She took another breath. "I'm so tired of being alone…"

Renee, per the norm, said nothing.

Noodle curled into a ball and closed his eyes. He flicked his tongue out once.

Gene rubbed circles into the back of Renee's hand with her thumb. "Dr. Forsythe told me you'll probably be able to wake up sometime next week. Apparently you're doing bettah than they thought." She swallowed hard. "And I…"

She thought again of all the things Renee could say when she woke up and realized her leg was _missing_. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could go back to the beginning. I wish I'd nevah agreed to go to the Dugout that night. I wish I'd nevah—"

 _"Listen to me, Gene. You're smart, and strong, and beautiful, and everything I wish I could be."_

Gene felt tears well up in her eyes again. "I wish I'd nevah met you. Then maybe you would've been all right."

Noodle lifted his head with a whine. She glanced at him. "I would do anything to make this _right_. Even if it means that we nevah… That we nevah met." She choked out a bitter laugh. "Maybe I'm cursed. First my parents and n-now you—God, _why_? Why couldn't I keep you safe…?"

Renee's jaw suddenly clenched and the machines beeped again. She relaxed a moment later.

Gene took a breath to calm herself. "I know what you'd say. You'd tell me it wasn't my fault. You'd tell me everything's fine and you'd pretend that's true. But it's not okay, short stack. Not this time. It… It's not evah gonna be okay." She gazed at Renee's face. "It's nevah gonna be okay again."

Silence settled in the room, broken only by the sounds of the machines keeping Renee alive. Gene released her hand and leaned back in the chair. She closed her eyes and tried, yet again, to think of how to explain to her girlfriend what happened. But how do you tell someone their life is irreparably changed—and for the worse?

Eventually Piper poked her head in the room to let her know it was time for dinner. Gene forced herself to stand, her body sore from being so tense, and she called for Noodle. He licked Renee's hand once before jumping down from the hospital bed and following her out.

"Apparently Curie and Virgil had some kind of breakthrough. We're all eating in the lab if you wanna join." Piper smiled as they walked toward the cafeteria.

"Yeah."

Gene stuffed her hands in her pockets. Noodle walked next to her, his claws clicking on the polished Vault floors. She ignored any of the Vault Dwellers that offered her a sympathetic gaze or a small smile while Noodle was quick to run to them for a quick pat on the head. Everyone knew. They did. Gene couldn't help that. But she hated it all the same.

She said nothing as she and Piper got their food on trays to take to the lab. Maria Summerset knew by now not to mention anything to Gene. She'd received enough sideways glares. "Enjoy your meal," she said anyway, smiling.

Gene nodded in response.

Piper lead the way to the lab. "You know, Gene, these people want to help you. You don't have to push them away."

"I'm not."

"You've been…" Piper sighed. Once they were in the elevator, she turned to the taller woman. "Listen. I can't even begin to imagine what this is like for you. I know it hurts. I know you think it's your fault, no matter how many times we tell you it's not. But I want you to think about what _she_ would want. How do you think she'd act if it were you in there?"

Gene hadn't yet stopped to consider that. She tried to imagine herself in Renee's situation and how Renee would react. Images of Renee angrily lashing out at anyone who came by flashed through her mind, followed by bits of pieces of Renee at her side, trying to keep up her usual perky, happy-go-lucky attitude. "She'd… She'd try to make things bettah. For…for me."

"Exactly. Renee would try her damnedest to fix it. I know there's not a lot to fix, but feeling sorry for yourself isn't helping." Piper shook her head. "I'm not saying that you can't grieve. This is a big change, and you have every right to react the way you are. But Renee is going to wake up sooner than later, and when she does…"

"I need to be theah for her."

The elevator doors opened. "There you go. Now come on, let's eat." Piper left first, followed by Noodle.

Gene took a moment to gather herself before she stepped out into the hallway. She could hear Nate laughing as she approached the lab. They set up a long table for them all to sit at and she took a spot at the end, by Curie. Curie didn't take any notice of this as she was too busy getting flustered with Virgil. "Do you 'ave _any_ idea what you are talking about?!"

"No offense, but I think my pre-war knowledge is more credible than a Miss Nanny that didn't leave one room for two hundred years." Virgil popped a bit of his razorgrain roll in his mouth with a smirk.

Curie's face turned red. "You—you— _Bon dieu, pourquoi suis-je entouré d'idiots_ …"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Curie, it's not _that_ bad."

Curie continued to grumble to herself in French.

"So, Dr. Virgil, you said you and Cures found some kind of solution to our Deathclaw problem." Nate glanced at him where he sat at the head of the table.

"Indeed." Virgil took a drink of his Nuka-Cola. "We finally came to the conclusion our best bet is to use their FEV to our advantage."

" _Oui_. We make a counter-virus." Curie smiled.

Piper tapped her chin. "That makes sense, I guess. But how are you going to do that?"

"We 'ave some ideas, but…"

Virgil swallowed his bite of casserole. "It's going to take a lot of experimentation."

Everyone stilled. Nate ran his tongue along his molars. "What do you mean, _experimentation_?"

"Ideally we would be able to test zhe viruses in a lab such as zhis." Curie glanced around. "But as time is of zhe essence, we figure it would be better if we 'ave, ah, live test subjects."

"Super Mutants make the perfect guinea pigs." Virgil continued eating as if nothing happened. "So we capture a couple and test our theories and serums out on them."

Piper shifted where she sat. "I-I don't know if I agree with that…"

Nate shook his head. "I know I don't agree with that. Super Mutants used to be _people_. And they're still living creatures, no matter how mutated. You can't treat them like animals."

"With all due respect, monsieur, we don't really 'ave a choice." Curie furrowed her brow. "Zhere 'ave been similar sacrifices made in zhe past for science. And zhis must be theirs."

"We can talk about that latah." Gene reached down to offer Noodle another bite of food. She was tired of science.

Piper cleared her throat before the silence got too awkward. "I have good news."

"Oh, wonderful! We could do with some good news, _n'est pas_?" Curie grinned.

The reporter looked to Nate. She smiled and reached for his hand. "Nat is going to be an aunt."

"Well of course, she's already Shaun's aunt technically—" Nate's eyes went wide. "Wait. You're…"

Piper just nodded.

Nate jumped up and pulled her from her seat in a hug. He kissed her. "This is great!" He laughed, whirling her around and around. "I'm gonna be a father! Again!"

Virgil gave them a genuine smile while Curie gave her congratulations. Noodle stood up and barked, wanting to join the celebration. Gene couldn't help but feel a bit lifted by the news herself. She allowed herself to grin as Piper began to laugh at Nate to put her down. "That's really wicked, you guys."

Once Piper's feet touched the floor again, she turned to Gene. "Oh! Didn't Dr. Forsythe give you some good news too?"

Everyone turned to Gene, who nodded once. She averted her gaze. "They… He said they'll be letting sh—Renee wake up next week. She's healing fastah than they thought."

"Hey, only three weeks in a coma isn't bad. For what she went through." Nate gave her a thumbs up. "You must be excited!"

She wasn't.

* * *

On the day they were taking Renee off the sedative, Gene couldn't have felt more nervous if she tried. She stood in the room as Dr. Forsythe and Rachel worked, rearranging Renee's machines and redoing anything she was personally plugged into. Rachel gave instructions as they worked. "Now Miss Dandridge, she's going to be pretty out of it at first so you'll have to be patient with her. She probably won't even remember waking up the first few times."

"She's not going to wake up immediately, is she?" Gene glanced down at Noodle where she held him back by his bandana. He whimpered and tried to get to his owner.

"Goodness, no. It'll be a few hours for her to wake up naturally. You're welcome to stay by her, of course. If you'd like." Dr. Forsythe wrote something down on a clipboard. "There. She's good to go. Rachel, I leave her in your hands."

Rachel smiled and finished up. She turned to Gene with a sigh. "Do you want me to stay? Or maybe get Piper or someone…?"

Gene shook her head. "No. It's okay. I've got the snup." She let Noodle go and he immediately jumped up on the bed to lay against Renee's right side, curling into a ball.

"I'll leave you alone then. Let me know if you need anything. Or if she wakes up." Rachel left and let the door slide shut behind her.

Gene sat in the chair she'd come to know too well. She immediately picked up one of the books on the bedside table and flipped to the page she left off on. Clearing her throat, she began to read aloud. _"What if you read to her? I know she likes reading in her free time anyway. That might help pass the time and keep your mind off things,"_ Piper had suggested a week or so ago. Gene took it upon herself to grab some of Renee's books from home when she last went back to Diamond City.

She actually found herself getting absorbed into the novel and nearly missed Renee's small whimper. She glanced up. "Short stack?" She put the book to the side and leaned forward. "Short stack, can you hear me?"

Renee shifted and her brow furrowed. Her eyes cracked open and searched the room before landing on Gene. "…Gene…"

Gene felt a few tears trail down her cheeks but did nothing to stop them. She gripped Renee's right hand. "You're finally awake."


	13. Love Me Anyway

Renee wiped the back of her hand along her brow, flinging off the sweat that had accumulated. "How's it coming, Dad?" She leaned on her pitchfork.

"Should be done by the end of the week!" Her father called back to her. He continued fixing the barn's roof.

"Renee! Richard! Olivia! Come in for dinner!" Evelyn poked her head out the front door of the house and ducked back in.

Renee threw the pitchfork into a stack of haybales at the other end of the barn with a practiced aim. Of course, she nearly clipped Olivia in doing so. "Sorry, Liv."

"What the hell?! Are you _trying_ to kill me?" Olivia snarled, shaking her head. "Ugh."

"Race you back to the house." Renee took off in a run.

"Hey!" Olivia scrambled after her.

Since falling into this new dreamscape—and she knew she was dreaming, she wasn't stupid—Renee decided to make the best of it. She lived her life back in Whitestone, as if she'd never run away in the first place. It all felt so normal; the farm, the animals, even Olivia's less-than-playful ribbing. But she didn't care. She was _home_. For the first time in almost five years, she was home.

Renee groaned in disappointment as Sharon, her husband, and their two kids were the first to the dinner table. She slid in next to her niece. "Beat me." She ruffled the girl's sandy hair. Shana just laughed.

Evelyn finished laying out all the food on the table just as Olivia and Richard strode in. "Just in time. Sit, sit."

Once everyone was seated and a quick word of thanks was spoken, the Jones family dug in. "So how's the barn coming?" Sharon asked, spooning out some mashed tatos for her children. She passed the dish.

"Coming along just fine. Should be all fixed by the end of the week. That storm sure did knock more than a few shingles loose." Richard grabbed a thick Brahmin steak off the serving platter handed to him.

Renee practically inhaled her food. She stood up to place her dish in the kitchen sink and dashed to put on her boots. "Thanks for dinner! I gotta go!"

"Go? Go where?" Evelyn tilted her head.

"I'm singing tonight!" She let the door close behind her.

The redhead jogged down the road along the wood fence. At her side, the setting sun cast the world aglow in shades of red and orange. Not for the first time Renee wondered how much Whitestone changed since she left. Her dream showed everything the same as it was the day she left, but logically she knew it was impossible. She didn't even know what the casino looked like that apparently Mike and Sharon owned now. But really… It didn't bother her that much.

She burst into the bar and waved to the bartender just a moment before taking up her spot on stage. The rest of the band was already there. "Sorry I'm late." She grabbed the old microphone.

"You're right on time." The guitarist struck a chord.

"Let's do this."

* * *

As the days passed, Renee grew increasingly restless. She loved seeing her family again—even if she was well aware they were nothing more than projections in her mind—but things were _too_ perfect. Nothing much happened. The town was peaceful, calm. Just like it was when she left.

Once she finished all her chores for the day, she went out the hill at the end of the property. She laid down on the grass and gazed up at the endless blue sky. The clouds floated by as lazily as she felt. She sighed. Nothing going on again. Her eyes closed and she turned her head.

Just as she about to doze off she felt a flickering wet tongue against her cheek. "Hm?" Her eyes snapped open and she sat up. "Noodle?"

The Nightstriker barked and jumped on her, his paws on her shoulders. She laughed and petted him. "Noodle! What are you doing here?"

"I thought we'd find you heah."

Renee looked up. "Gene…" She pushed Noodle off and stood to meet her girlfriend.

"We've been looking everywheah but I figured you'd come back heah. You coulda told us you were taking a vacation, you know." Gene grinned.

"I missed you." Renee closed the distance between them, throwing her arms around the taller woman."

She felt Gene return the hug. "I missed you too, short stack."

Renee got up on her toes to kiss her. Instead, Gene tightened her grip and whirled her around with a laugh. "G-Gene!" She yelped and clung to her.

Gene set her back on the ground and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "When do you think you'll come back home?"

"I… I mean, I am—technically home…" As Renee gazed at her, she realized things were falling out of focus. "Just take me back home with you. Where I belong."

"I think you've been around heah too long." Gene flicked her sunglasses on top of her head. "Listen, I'll wait for you back home. Don't take too long." She turned to walk away.

"H-hey!" Renee scrambled to run after her. Noodle blasted past her with a happy bark. "Gene, wait! Wait!" The hill and the grass fell away as the sky melted to white.

Gene turned slightly. "I'll see you soon, short stack."

Renee could feel herself falling again.

* * *

 _Beep. Beep. Beep crzt beep. Beep. Crzt._

"Short stack?"

 _Beep_.

The light hurt. Renee forced her eyes open against the onslaught of bright, blinding light and blinked a few times. She felt slow, sluggish. She felt tired. But…

"Short stack, can you hear me?"

She turned her head, wincing from the effort. Her gaze fell on Gene. "G…Gene…"

"You're finally awake." Gene smiled and gripped her hand.

To Renee's shock, Gene was…crying. She blinked. Just how long had she been unconscious? Just what exactly happened? "H-how…long…"

"Shh, relax. You've been asleep for three weeks." Gene brushed some stray hair from her forehead.

"Three…" Renee's breath hitched and the machine next to her sped up in time with her heart.

Gene glanced at the monitor. "It's okay. It's okay…"

Renee tried to reach her other hand for Gene but stopped as she realized her arm wouldn't move. She turned her head again, the stiff muscles groaning at the movement, and gave a soft gasp. "Wh-what happened to m…me?"

The room spun and Renee found it hard to get her breath. She swallowed hard. Dry. Her throat was so dry. "Gene?" She looked back at the shopkeeper. Tears gathered in her own eyes. "I'm s-s…scared."

Confused. Frightened. So goddamned confused.

Pain hit her as something pressed down on her ribs. She grunted and heard a whimper. "Noodle…"

The snup licked her right arm where he laid.

"You need to rest." Gene furrowed her brow. "I'll explain everything latah, okay?"

Now. She wanted everything explained now. But even as she laid there, Renee could feel her consciousness slipping away again. "Gene…"

"Yeah, short stack?"

Renee took a breath. "I can't…feel my leg…"


	14. I Don't Wanna Say It

Waking up the second time proved less disorienting. Gene was nowhere to be seen, but there was a nurse in the room. Renee cleared her throat. "E-excuse me…"

"Oh!" She whirled with a smile. "Miss Dandridge told me you woke up. I hope I didn't wake you this time."

"No, no…" Renee struggled to push herself up, gasping as pain spiked in her ribs again.

"Miss Jones, please, don't move so much. You need to take things slow." The woman gently eased her back against the mattress and placed a remote of sorts in her hand. "That'll adjust the bed if you like."

"Er, thanks, um…"

"Rachel."

"Thanks, Rachel." Renee looked up at her. "What happened? To me?"

Rachel's smile fell. "Let me fetch the doctor." She turned and left hurriedly.

Renee pressed one of the remote buttons and felt the bed begin to shift. Once she was partially seated, she stopped. She took a breath and tried to stretch her neck a bit, feeling it tug at her shoulders. Whatever the case, she was _definitely_ sore.

The door slid open again and an older gentleman in a white lab coat walked in. "Good morning, Miss Jones. I'm Dr. Jacob Forsythe." He smiled and sat in the chair at her side. "I've been waiting to meet you for almost a month now."

"A month?" Renee furrowed her brow. "Doctor, what's going on? What happened to me? Where the hell am I, anyway?"

"One thing at a time." He chuckled and looked at his clipboard. "You're in Vault 81. Nate Howard brought you here after you sustained quite a few severe injuries in the Glowing Sea." He glanced up. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I…" She blinked. "Gene and I were trying to get to Virgil's cave. There were some Deathclaws that attacked. Gene was—" She gasped. "Is Gene okay?!"

"Miss Dandridge is perfectly fine, don't you worry." He patted her thigh. "Do you remember anything else?"

"One of the Deathclaws was going to attack her. I remember I dropped my gun, a-and ran toward her, and then… Nothing." She shook her head. "Next thing I know I'm waking up here. It's… Everything's fuzzy." She put her hand to her temple. "I don't know."

Dr. Forsythe leaned forward. Gone was his smile from before. "Miss Jones, you nearly died."

"I… I did?" She took a quick breath. "Damn. That explains a lot, I guess."

"I want you to listen to me very carefully. Rachel, Curie, and I did everything we could for you. But there are some things we can't fix." He looked down at his clipboard again. "Your left arm was broken in multiple places. You most likely will never regain full movement of it again."

Renee swallowed hard. "I… Okay. I can live with that. As long as Gene is okay. I can work at getting myself back together, r-right?"

"I'm glad you seem to have a positive outlook on your situation." He put the clipboard to the side. "Miss Jones, during the attack, you… You lost your left leg from the knee down."

All at once the world stopped. Renee's breath caught in her throat. She heard nothing, felt nothing. Finally, "What?"

"You came to us missing that limb. There was nothing we could do except prevent infection from spreading."

"M-my leg is…is gone?"

The sentence sounded foreign. It wasn't her saying it. It wasn't about her. It couldn't have been. It was about someone else, anyone else, it was a mistake, a _mistake_ , just a mistake, it wasn't real—

Dr. Forsythe jerked back the blanket. Her right leg laid bare and pale between the sheets, covered in old scars and fading new ones. She choked. Her left thigh was nothing but a thick bundle of bandages ending abruptly about two inches above where her knee should've been. "N…no. No, that's not… That's…"

"You're lucky to be alive, Miss Jones."

 _Lucky?_

"You had some internal injuries as well, but those have all healed. As well as your head trauma. You were kept sedated for about three weeks so you could recover. Thanks to plenty of rest and some carefully timed Stimpaks, I don't believe you'll have any lasting effects from those injuries."

Gone. Her leg was…gone. It just—ended. She would never walk again. Or run again. Or jump, or fight, or run away from Ghouls, or play with Noodle, or explore the Ruins or be a caravan guard or even be a Diamond City guard—

"You also broke a few ribs, and though they're healing nicely you'll probably still feel some pain from time to time." He glanced at the heart monitor as it sped up. "Miss Jones…"

—or work out in the fields again or swim again or even properly have sex again how the hell was she supposed to do anything without one of her legs and basically one arm how could she live how was she supposed to live and how was it fair because it's _not fair_ it's not fucking _fair_ at all her leg is gone it's gone it's gone it's gone it's fucking _gone_ for Christ's sake—

"Do you have any questions?"

"…No."

Dr. Forsythe nodded. "Very well. You should focus on rest and recovery for the foreseeable future. If you need anything or have any questions, Rachel or I are here to help." He stood and walked toward the door. "Let us know if you need anything." He dimmed the lights so she could sleep and left.

Once he was gone, she cried. Her chest heaved as she sobbed alone in the semi-darkness. Her shoulders shook and her ribs ached and her head began to pound but still she cried. She wanted to scream. But she didn't.

Her left leg was gone. Her left arm was rendered just about useless. She was…useless.

Anger welled within her and she wanted to blame Gene. She wanted to blame Gene for it all, if only Gene had fucking _moved_ then maybe this wouldn't have happened. But it wasn't—really—her fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. Yet the fact remained she was now irreparably damaged.

She managed to flick the blankets back into place and lowered the bed. With a gasping breath she willed her heart to slow and her body to relax. The anger subsided. In its place came a familiar friend.

Renee wanted to die.

* * *

"Gene? Gene Dandridge?"

Gene turned around where she sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria. "Yeah?" She swallowed her bite of sandwich and stood.

"I'm Katy Pinn, the schoolteacher here in the vault." The woman held out her hand. "I heard about your friend. She finally woke up."

Gene shook it once. "Yeah, she did."

"Well, I guess that means you'll be leaving soon then." Katy smiled slightly. "I wanted to ask if you would mind stopping by the classroom before you do. Many of the kids probably won't ever leave the vault and it would be good for them to hear about the outside world from someone who lives there. It's been nice having Shaun Howard and Nat Wright in class, but it's different from an adult, you know?"

"You're right." Gene returned the smile. "Sure, I can talk to them."

"Oh, that's great! Would you mind bringing your, ah, _pet_ with you when you do?" The teacher pointed at Noodle where he laid beneath the table.

Gene nudged him. "No problem. Noodle loves kids. Right, buddy?"

The Nightstriker perked up at his name and gave a happy hiss.

Katy nodded. "See you tomorrow morning?"

"We'll be theah."

Gene waved as Katy Pinn walked off. She looked down at Noodle with a grin. "So, wanna go pay a visit to short stack?"

Noodle lurched to his feet and stretched, sticking out his forked tongue as he did so. He shook himself once and began trotting toward the infirmary. Gene followed behind at a leisurely pace. She chuckled as he went up to almost every person they passed for a scratch behind the ears or a pat on the head.

As they approached the infirmary his happiness came to a screeching halt. He shrank back to hide behind Gene's legs once she stepped inside the doorway. "We're heah to see Renee."

Rachel and Dr. Forsythe shared a glance. "She's not taking visitors right now."

"She… What? Why?" Gene noticed how the infirmary seemed…tenser than normal.

Rachel pressed her lips into a thin line. "She's decided not to accept visitors for the time being. She doesn't want to see anyone." She snorted. "Or rather, she doesn't want anyone to see _her_."

"Tell her it's me. Gene. Her _girlfriend_."

Dr. Forsythe stepped toward her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Miss Dandridge, she needs time. I told her this morning. About the extent of her injuries. She needs time to accept things."

"Then I _definitely_ need to be in theah with her—"

"No. If she wants to be alone, then we'll leave her alone."

In her secluded room at the back of the clinic, Renee could hear their muffled voices. Hearing Gene brought on a fresh wave of sobs and she felt the hot tears leak from her eyes, dripping onto the pillow. "I-I'm so…sorry…" She whimpered, clenching the blankets in her right hand.

 _"I never should have let you love me."_


	15. You'll Be All Right

"Good morning, everyone! We have two special guests with us!"

Gene shifted where she stood at the front of the classroom. She rubbed the back of her neck. Noodle stood at her side, sniffing the air and flicking his tongue in and out. "Hey."

The students whispered among themselves, save for Nat and Shaun, who waved. "Heya Miss Gene!" Shaun cried.

"Miss Dandridge has volunteered to come speak to you all about life outside the vault. She also brought along Noodle, her pet, um…" Katy glanced at Gene.

"Nightstrikah."

"Nightstriker, of course." She sat at her desk. "So, why don't you just start by telling everyone what you do?"

"R-right." Gene cleared her throat. "I'm Gene. I live in Diamond City, run a clothing shop called _Wicked Aesthetics_." She shifted again. "I mean, I'm not really sure what you wanna know…"

A young boy at the front raised his hand. "Is it true you came in with a talking Deathclaw?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, I mean, I know a talking Deathclaw. Lawrence." Gene noticed another kid had their hand up and nodded toward them.

"Have you ever fought a Deathclaw?"

"Uh…" Gene glanced at Katy. "I have, but don't you guys wanna know about something else?"

Nat waved her arm. "Ooh! Tell them about how you got your scar!"

Gene shrugged. "Well… Okay then. I was out in the Ruins looking for clothing or scrap and I accidentally found a Deathclaw nest. It scratched my back when I was runnin' away." She turned and slipped her bomber jacket down and pointed out where it started and ended. "So now I've got a wicked scar from heah to heah."

"Did you kill it?!"

"Nah, but I did shoot it a few times with my shotgun." Gene turned and grinned. "I think I scared it off pretty good."

The students murmured amongst themselves. The boy from before raised his hand again. "Have you ever killed anyone?"

Fortunately, before Gene could answer there was a loud hiss and Noodle yelped. While Gene was talking he slunk around the classroom and got too close to the grey cat lounging beneath one of the students. He whimpered and dashed back to the front.

"Noodle, are you causing trouble?" She rolled her eyes and patted the front table. "Come on."

He jumped up and sat on the wood, his tail wagging back and forth. He hissed.

"What kind of animal is he?" The girl asked, holding her cat in her arms.

"Noodle is a Nightstrikah. Renee—er, my girlfriend found him when he was a baby." She crinkled her nose. "He was a…snuppy."

There was a giggle. "A snuppy?"

"A snuppy is a snake puppy. Nightstrikahs are sorta snake-dogs." Gene patted his head. "But he's a loyal mutt."

Noodle shook his rattlesnake tail and gave a bark.

"You can come pet him if you want." Gene stood back.

The students crowded around the table to pet Noodle. He laid down and sniffed them, licking a few kids on the cheek. He definitely enjoyed all the attention.

Another student looked up at Gene. "Is Renee the lady that's been in the clinic?"

Gene's face slid into a neutral expression. "Yeah, she is. She got hurt pretty badly out in the Glowing Sea."

"What happened?"

The students filed back to their seats and Noodle looked up at Gene with a whine. She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "The Commonwealth is a dangerous place. Places like this vault and Diamond City are safe, but theah's a lot of different ways to die out theah. I don't wanna scare you. But don't think that you'll be safe with your wits and a gun. Because anything can happen.

"Renee and I were looking for somebody. And we got attacked by some Deathclaws. She…saved my life. The Deathclaw was coming right at me and I was—scared."

Silence settled over the room. Katy leaned forward on her desk. "Why didn't you move?" She asked, her voice soft. Not accusing, but inquiring.

"Because I was scared. I was terrified. I wasn't thinking." Gene closed her eyes. In that moment, she could see Renee shoving her to the side, the Deathclaw biting into her, flinging her again that old collapsed freeway. The blood all around her broken body. Her left leg—

"She must really love you."

Gene opened her eyes and gazed down at the girl with the cat. "What?"

"She must love you if she, you know, was willing to do that for you. I mean, I think I'd be scared too, of a Deathclaw. I don't think I could do something like that…" She scratched the cat's chin. "Maybe if something was coming after Ashes."

Gene smiled. "Well, I love her too."

* * *

Dr. Forsythe looked over as Gene and Noodle entered the clinic. "Ah, good afternoon, Miss Dandridge."

"Hey. Is Renee feeling up to some visitahs?" Gene glanced down at Noodle.

"I certainly hope so, because I have some good news for her." He took down the x-ray he was looking at from the lightboard. "Let's go back."

The doctor knocked on the door. "Miss Jones?"

"I'm awake."

The door slid open and Noodle bounded in first. He jumped up on the bed and immediately went to lick Renee's face. She sputtered and shoved him off. "No, bad boy! No jumping!"

Noodle skittered to the floor with a whimper. His ears were flat against his skull and he slunk behind Gene. Gene furrowed her brow. "Short stack, you nevah cared if he was up theah before…"

"Well I care now." Renee shot them a glare before she looked away. "What do you want?"

"I have some good news for you, Miss Jones." Dr. Forsythe set up the black and white sheet on the lightboard in the room and flicked it on.

As he began to explain what the x-ray meant, Gene kept her eyes on Renee. The woman's hair was tangled and looked like it hadn't been brushed in weeks. Her eyes were narrowed as she glared at the doctor. She could see Renee's muscles were tensed beneath her thin shirt. "Short stack…"

"What?" Renee turned to her, her glare deepening. "You're acting like you've never seen me before."

"I…"

Dr. Forsythe cleared his throat. "As I was saying, the fractures in your arm have healed enough we can finally get you started on some therapy. Not too quickly, but it's important that you start building those muscles back up."

"Not that it'll matter." Renee's shoulders—well, her right shoulder—slumped forward and her hair obscured her face.

"It _does_ matter, Miss Jones. Just yesterday you said you were willing to try to work to get movement back in that arm and today you're acting like you couldn't care less." He glanced at Gene.

"I don't care."

He sighed. "I'll let Curie and Rachel know about your progress. Let us know if you need anything."

Gene stepped to the side as he left. She sat in her chair and leaned forward, reaching up to brush away Renee's hair. "Short stack—"

Renee grabbed her wrist. "Go. Away."

"I'm not leaving. You need me."

"I don't need anyone. I never have before and I don't now."

Gene wrenched her arm away. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Renee, I waited _three weeks_ for you to wake up. I thought you were dead when I found Dr. Virgil. I can nevah forgive myself for what happened to you. I keep going ovah it again and again in my head and I just…"

Renee gazed up at her. "I don't regret what I did."

"But it's my fault that you're—"

"It's not your fault." Renee clenched her jaw and looked down at her lap. "I just wanted to make sure you would be okay. I _know_ I'm useless. But I had to keep you safe. I could never allow anything to happen to you. So I… I made sure nothing did." She swallowed hard, feeling tears gather in her eyes. "But I'm so fucking _worthless_ like this—!"

Without thinking Gene slid onto the bed next to her and wrapped her arms around Renee, careful not to hold her too tightly. She shook her head. "You're not. You're not worthless, or useless, or anything like that."

Renee gripped her weakly. She let the tears fall as she cried into Gene's shoulder. "I d-don't know what to do, my leg's fucking gone and I just—I can't—"

Gene held her. "We'll figure it out togethah. I promise."

"I feel so alone…" Renee whimpered.

"You're not alone. I'll be right by your side." Gene pulled back and swiped away a tear from Renee's cheek. "You always tell me you'll come back to me, but did you evah stop to think that I'd always come back to you too?"

The redhead choked out a bitter laugh and shook her head. "I really don't deserve you."

"You deserve the world." Gene pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you. I don't want you to forget that."

"I love you too." She smiled, ever so slightly.

Gene suddenly perked up. "Hey, I know. You need a bit of colah in heah." She tapped her chin before her eyes alighted on the stark white cast still encasing Renee's left arm. "I have an idea. Wait right heah."

"As if I have a—" Renee blinked as Gene was up and out the door before she could finish. She looked down at Noodle. "—choice." She patted the bed. "Come here, boy."

Noodle put his front paws on the bed and gazed up at her with a whine. She patted his head, reaching back to scratch his ears. "Come on."

He climbed up on the mattress and licked her face as she laid back. "I'm sorry, buddy." She continued to pet him.

Gene returned shortly after. She knelt on Renee's left side and uncapped a marker. "Hold still."

Renee raised an eyebrow as she watched Gene start drawing on the plaster. "What are you doing…?"

Gene said nothing but switched out between different colored markers before finally grabbing the black one. She signed her name with a flourish. "Theah." She shifted to sit on the edge of the mattress.

Renee craned her neck to see Gene's masterful artwork. A crudely drawn Nightstriker decorated her forearm, under which was Gene's signature. She chuckled and looked up. "Thanks."

"Hey, not everyone gets to wear a Dandridge original."

"Looks pretty, uh, wicked."

Gene blinked before she began to laugh.


	16. Just Like She Used To Do

I apologize for the wait. I recently broke things off with my fiance of almost 3 years so I've been going through some stuff. Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported this fic through favorites, reviews, and follows. I appreciate it very much. And if you haven't reviewed, favorited, or followed, know that I appreciate you reading this too. More than you could know.

Thank you.

* * *

"Captain Anita Mayweather, Commonwealth Minutemen. General Howard sent for me."

"Right. We'll open the door and you can come in." Officer Edwards's voice crackled through the speaker.

Anita closed the button cover. She adjusted her hat before finally just taking it off. No need for headwear in a Vault, she supposed.

The heavy lead door rolled open and she jogged up the stairs leading to the platform. Nate met her in the foyer. "Welcome to Vault 81, Mayweather." He smiled. "I'm glad you could come at such short notice."

"Of course. Hey, when the General says go, I don't have much of a choice, do I?" She raised one cherry-red eyebrow.

Nate laughed before turning. "Follow me and I'll show you to your assignment."

They made small talk on the elevator ride to the Vault proper. She tried to pay attention to the General, but she hadn't spent much time—hardly any, in fact—in Vaults and her gaze wandered. They were truly masterpieces of Pre-War engineering. Fascinating.

"In here, Captain."

She stepped into what seemed to be a medical clinic. Her eyes widened. "Gene?"

Gene Dandridge turned where she was speaking with a woman. She smiled and cocked her head. "Anita? What are you doing heah?"

"I see you two know each other already. Perfect." Nate glanced between them. "Gene, since we'll be leaving the Vault in the coming week, I've assigned Captain Mayweather and Private Haylen to take over the shop for you while you're in Sanctuary."

"What?" Gene stared at him, her brow furrowed.

He blinked. "I assumed you would be staying with us in Sanctuary, with Renee."

"I haven't decided yet."

Nate seemed surprised by her answer. He looked away. "In any case, I'll let you explain things to Captain Mayweather. I need to go see how Curie and Piper are doing packing things up."

Anita waited until he was gone to look to Gene. "I would ask how you are, but I have a feeling I already know the answer."

Gene exhaled in a rush. "I'm exhausted, but I'm all right." She glanced to the side. "It's…Renee."

"All we've been told is that a friend of the General's nearly died. What's going on, exactly?"

"Let's go somewheah else to talk, yeah?"

"Sure."

Gene was quiet for a bit as they walked toward the room she shared with Nate and Piper. "You know about the talking Deathclaws, right?"

"Yeah. We were all briefed on that in case something happened."

"We were attacked in the Glowing Sea. Renee— She saved my life. And nearly died for it." Gene swallowed hard. "She broke her arm, a few ribs. But… Her leg's gone."

They reached the room and though the door was open, they didn't walk in. Anita gazed over at Gene. "God…"

A muscle in Gene's jaw twitched and her eyes narrowed. "And it's all my fucking fault."

Anita ushered her in the room. "Hold on, I don't think—"

"I froze up, Anita. If I'd only fucking _moved_ then Renee wouldn't be like she is!" Gene's shoulders tensed and she took a deep breath. Anger flashed in her eyes. "She told me it's fine but it's not. I know bettah." She turned, hands clenched at her sides.

"Listen, I may not know Renee that well, but I do know that she loves you. Er, I assume. You love her. I know that much." The redhead reached for Gene's arm. "You can't blame yourself, at least not around her."

"I know." Gene's shoulders fell. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just…"

"It's all right. Just let it out if you need to."

Gene whirled and began to pace the room. Anita stepped out of her way. "I can't pretend everything's just wicked pissah all the time. I mean her leg's _gone_." Gene ran a hand through her hair. "And the doc said her arm's fucked up and she's—she's changed and things aren't going to go back to normal. We're gonna go home from all this and she's…"

"You're right. Renee's _body_ has changed, but unless something else's happened between now and when I last saw you, I'm pretty sure her personality is probably the same." Anita crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

"That doesn't help anything. You don't know short stack like I do. She constantly gets into trouble, and _god_ she's a fucking klutz, and everything is always so dramatic, and she's always moving—"

"You're worried her personality will change." Anita quirked an eyebrow.

Gene looked at her. "Well… Won't it?"

"Not necessarily." Anita pushed off the wall. "I'm sure you've already been told this, but you need to—"

"Be theah for her, I get it. I know. I'm not stupid." Gene sat on the bed and sighed. She slumped forward.

Anita sat next to her. She reached to place a hand at Gene's back. "Then what's really bothering you?"

"I'm…scared." Gene stared at the floor. Memories flashed through her mind; memories of Renee throughout their relationship thus far. She remembered after Davey's attack when, even though she was injured, Renee still tried to help around the shop and the apartment. She didn't even know you could cook a meal one-handed until Renee did so. She remembered Renee performing at Nate and Piper's wedding, how she sang and danced on stage.

She remembered Halloween night when they went exploring the haunted apartment building in the ruins, and she remembered how Renee insisted on taking care of her when she managed to trip and sprain her ankle. She remembered in the winter, when she'd been so sick she couldn't even get out of bed, and Renee was right by her. She remembered all those mornings when she would wake up next to the petite woman, just as the sun was peaking in through the windows, and the light haloed her head, and in those moments… Everything seemed okay.

Anita took a quick breath. "She's not dead, you know."

"I know." Gene closed her eyes. She thought of all the times Renee turned to her with a loving smile, her blue eyes sparkling, the gentle way she'd say, _"Hey Gene."_ "I know."

"You have to talk to me if you want me to understand."

She swallowed hard and fidgeting with her hands. "I'm scared that things won't go back to how they used to be. I know things won't evah be the same. I mean that she won't…she won't love me. That I'll nevah see her smile again. I can't fix this, Anita. I fucked it up but I can't _fix_ it."

Anita smiled slightly and chuckled. "If you saw the way she looks at you, you wouldn't even be worried about this." She outright laughed at Gene's confused expression. "Gene, I hear you. I understand that you're worried. I get it. And I wish I knew what to do, but this is something that you'll have to learn as you go. Things are going to be tough, but you've got each other. And you've got us. Don't forget about your friends, okay?"

"Thanks." Gene relaxed, if only a little. "I just…"

"Believe her when she says it's okay." Anita stood. "If there's one thing I do know, it's that you need to trust in her. Like she trusts you."

Gene looked up. "I'll…try."

* * *

"Excellent work, Mademoiselle Jones."

"Renee. Renee is fine."

Curie nodded once. "Of course. I will try to remember."

Renee fought the urge to shake her hand out. "Ugh…" She clenched her jaw as her muscles began to ache.

"Well, I must admit you are doing better than I expected." Curie jotted own some notes on a clipboard. "You 'ave more motion zhan I thought someone with your injuries should." She frowned. "Though I 'ave a distinct feeling you are per'aps pushing yourself a bit 'ard…"

Renee attempted to massage her palm but the cast made it impossible. "Well it hurts…"

"Yes, well, it is also still _broken_. Zhere is no reason to force it." Curie reached back to feel over her shoulder. "Does any of zhis hurt?"

"No, not—Gah!" She flinched.

Curie pressed again, frowning deeper. "Hmph, zhat is not good."

"Wasn't my shoulder messed up too?" The redhead winced and jerked away.

"Zhat is putting it mildly, but yes. We 'ad to perform surgery on it." Curie gathered up Renee's long hair and settled it over her other shoulder. She gripped the woman's upper arm gently. "Tell me if zhis hurts."

Curie didn't get it rotated far before Renee protested. She stopped and sat back down. "Hm."

Renee settled back against the bed. "Well?"

"It seems our first order of business should be trying to get zhe glenohumeral joint in proper working order, but zhat is not quite possible until the bones in your arm are 'ealed enough to remove your cast…" Curie continued to write on her clipboard.

"The…the what?"

"Your shoulder."

"Oh." Renee took a deep breath. "Curie, be honest. What do you think the chances are of me being able to shoot a gun again and everything?"

"You are right-handed?"

Renee nodded.

Curie tucked the pen behind her ear and looked Renee in the eye. "You should be able to shoot a rifle, provided you do not ever decide to do it with your left hand. I am more concerned with your ability to perform everyday tasks. Zhat is what we will focus on. Zhe goal is to ensure you are just as independent when all zhis is over as you were before."

Here Renee chuckled bitterly. "My leg is gone. I won't be independent ever again."

"With zhat attitude? Most definitely." Curie stood and moved the chair back to the right side of the bed. " _Merci_ , Renee. I 'ave a basis on which to build a good program for you. Try to look on zhe bright side, hm? You are still alive, after all."

"Yeah." Renee forced a smile as the Synth left. She sighed and stared up at the ceiling once she was alone. "Alive…" She mumbled, snorting. _At what cost?_

"Have you evah thought about getting back into dating?"

"Funny you mention that."

Renee's ears pricked to hear voices outside her room. One of them was definitely Gene, but she couldn't place the other feminine voice.

"I think anybody'd be lucky to have you." Gene.

"Heh. Thanks." Mystery woman.

"Come on, 'fess up. You've got someone in mind."

"Well…"

"Who is it?"

Renee's eyes narrowed. "Hm…"

The mystery voice laughed. "She's strong, smart. Tough as nails. But gentle. She's…everything I could ever ask for, really."

The heart rate monitor began beeping faster.

"I'd love to meet her sometime."

"I think you might know her already, Gene."

"Oh really?" Renee recognized that as Gene's playful tone. "Well then."

Renee stared at the door. Her mouth felt dry and she tried to keep her thoughts in line.

"You'll have to bring her to _Wicked Aesthetics_."

"I plan on it. Well, she'll be there when I am."

"That's convenient."

"Yeah… It is."

"Gives you plenty of time to get to know each othah."

"Gene, we know each other plenty already."

Renee's shoulders fell. "Gene…"


	17. Every Minute's Like A Day

Piper ran the brush through her hair again. "Wow, your hair has gotten pretty long."

"Seems I just had it cut not long ago…" Renee glanced away from her gaze in the mirror. "I keep forgetting I'm missing a month of my life."

The reporter's hand faltered but she went right back to brushing. "Have you ever been here before?"

"No."

"I think you'll like it. Sanctuary's a peaceful place. Really lives up to its name."

Renee didn't respond. She stared at herself in the mirror, not listening to Piper's continued rambling. Her blue eyes were sunken and her skin still looked ghostly white. The shirt she wore hung off her shoulders. She'd lost a lot of weight being in Vault 81 so long; she looked like… Like she did when she lived in Rivet City with Davey, when she was twenty-two.

 _I wonder if I could get…_

"Renee, are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" She turned her head to look back at Piper with a wince. "Sorry…"

"Neck still sore?" Piper put down the brush and gathered all of Renee's hair to one side. She began gently kneading her thumbs against the woman's skin. "As I was saying, I think Gene is supposed to come in a week or two. Depends on how long it takes Anita to learn the store."

Renee's jaw clenched. "Anita?"

"Anita Mayweather. She's a Minuteman. Didn't you meet her at the wedding?"

"Probably. I—Ow!" She jerked away.

"Sorry, sorry." Piper stopped and let Renee's long hair tumble over her back. "There. Anyway, Anita volunteered to look after the shop while Gene's here with you."

" _Volunteered_ …?"

Piper gripped the handles to the wheelchair Renee sat in. "So, how tired are you? I know Shaun and Nat would love to hear some stories if you're up for it. It's been a while since you've told them any."

"I'm exhausted."

The smile fell from the reporter's face. "Oh. Well, that makes sense. You've had kind of a hard few days…" She began wheeling Renee to the room Curie prepared for her.

Piper then left her to fetch Curie's assistant to help transfer her to the bed. Renee stared blankly at it, the way the sheets and blankets were tucked under the mattress and the pillows looked freshly washed—as washed as they could be, anyway. She allowed herself to slump forward.

A few days earlier, they all prepared to make the journey from Vault 81 to Sanctuary, where Renee would stay for the remainder of her recovery. It was also a prime opportunity for Dr. Virgil (who she had not had the chance to meet until that afternoon, and he was much taller than she imagined) to continue his…experiments on Super Mutants. She didn't understand everything that went on with it, but it seemed he needed some less-than-willing test subjects for some serum or whatnot he was developing to fix the talking Deathclaw problem.

Whatever. She stopped caring about all that as soon as Gene let her know that she wouldn't be joining them, at least not right away. "I'll get to Sanctuary eventually. But I can't just leave the store. You undahstand, right?"

"Y…yeah. I understand."

Gene didn't even kiss her before she left ahead of them.

Next Nate let them know _he_ wasn't coming along either. "I'll meet you there later. I have to go find a friend first. I think she'll be able to help you, Renee."

"Wait, and you're doing this _alone_?" Piper was, understandably, upset about the prospect. "Oh hell no, I'm coming with you!"

"Pipes, you can't, you're—"

"I'm not _that_ pregnant yet!"

Renee instead offered him Noodle. "Be a good boy, okay? Keep him safe. And stay out of trouble."

"Piper said you're ready for bed?"

The voice pulled her from her thoughts. Renee looked up at Elwood, Curie's assistant and another Minuteman. She nodded. "Yeah. I can't get into bed myself," she mumbled, chuckling bitterly.

He easily lifted her from the wheelchair and onto the mattress. "There. Need another blanket or pillow or anything?"

"No, I should be fine. Thanks." She wiggled her way under the blankets.

"Sure. If you need anything, just yell. Sleep well, Miss Jones!" He smiled before leaving the room, flicking off the light as he went.

In the darkness and the quiet, Renee could hear her own heartbeat. She stared up at the ceiling though she could see little. Tears began to well in her eyes and she did nothing to stop them from spilling over. The loneliness settled and she regretted her decision to lend Noodle to Nate; but even more she wished, desperately, that Gene could be there.

 _Gene_. Hardly two months out from the accident and already the raven-haired shopkeeper was scouting out new women. Renee gripped the blankets with her right hand.

* * *

"Before we begin, I would like to ask you some questions."

"Hmph."

Curie crossed her legs where she sat and sighed. "Very well. I 'ave a feeling zhat answers one of my questions but no matter. What is your name? Your full name, please."

"Renee Elizabeth Jones." She didn't bother looking at the Synth where she sat at the other side of the table.

"Date of birth?"

"April twenty-third, twenty-two sixty-two."

"Oh, your birthday is in a month!"

Renee shot her a glare.

Curie cleared her throat and continued down the list. "Place of birth?"

"Whitestone, Midwest Commonwealth."

"Quite far from home, hm?" Curie wrote on her clipboard. "Current residence?"

"A fucking nightmare."

Here Curie stopped. She looked up with a sharp breath. "Miss Jones—"

"My name is Renee."

" _Miss Jones_ , I understand you are not quite feeling, ah 'up to par' with your current situation, but zhe only way zhings are going to improve is if you allow them. Wallowing in zhis…zhis darkness is not going to get you better." The Synth took another breath. "While you are under no obligation to take advantage of my 'elp, I firmly suggest you do."

Renee slammed her right hand on the table with a loud _whump_. "What good does it do?!" She shouted, tears crawling down her face again. She'd done more crying in the past two weeks than she'd done her whole life. "It's not going to bring my leg back! It's not going to make my arm work! It's not—It doesn't mean anything!"

Curie blinked in surprise. She clenched her jaw.

"Why didn't you let me _die_ that day?" Renee glared at her, clenching her fists so tightly they ached. "Why didn't you just let me fucking die?!" The nails of her right hand cut into her palm. "I'm no use to anyone like this, don't you get it? Gene doesn't… She doesn't even…" She swallowed hard. "She can't even stand to be around me like this."

Curie stood and walked around the table. She turned Renee around and knelt before her, placing her hand on top of the redhead's. "It is true zhat it will do nothing to bring back what you 'ave lost. But you 'ave so much living yet to do, Miss Jones. Miss Dandridge told me a bit of what 'as 'appened to you, in zhe past; and I was so sure you would be willing, and eager, to fight for zhis. But yet…" She gave Renee's hand a gentle squeeze. "Yet you fight against me at every turn. Why?"

Renee took a moment to catch her breath. "Because I just… I don't know how I can…"

Curie gazed up at her, patiently waiting.

"I don't know how I can…recover from something like this. My life is… My life is basically over. There's nothing left for me." She whimpered and fresh tears pooled in her eyes again. "I feel so alone… No one seems to understand why I just _can't_."

"You are not alone in zhis." Curie reached into her lab coat pocket for a handkerchief and handed it off. "I too 'ad to learn 'ow to be human."

"What?" Renee wiped at her eyes.

"When Monsieur Nate first met me, I was but a Miss Nanny robot in Vault 81." She straightened and sat back in her chair. "My name is Curie, but my designation is C.V.R.I.E.: Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary Engineer." She smiled slightly. "I was able to 'ave my consciousness and other data transferred into a Synth body. But, hm, it was quite a change to suddenly only 'ave two 'ands."

Renee shook her head. "I had no idea…"

"No, to see me now I suppose you would not. But it took quite a bit of work to learn just 'ow to brush zhe teeth, believe me." Curie picked up her clipboard and pen again. "Zhe point is, I understand zhe feeling of not knowing 'ow to use your own body. You are not alone. Zhat is why I am 'ere; to 'elp and assist. And to prepare you for what I 'ope Monsieur Nate is bringing back with 'im."

"What do you mean?"

"I will say no more on zhe subject." She clicked her pen. "Now, current residence?"

Renee sighed and sniffled, wiping her nose. "Diamond City…"


	18. I Won't Ask Again

Gene slid her work glasses from her face and looked over at Anita. "Want me to go ovah it again?"

"No, I think I've got it."

"I hope so, because you have to do it every night." She closed the ledger and stuck it under the counter. "And then you're done for the evening."

Haylen reached up for a high-five with Z0E on the other side of the store where they were getting displays ready for the next day. The Assaultron looked up at the woman's hand before raising a claw. "Good enough." The ex-Scribe grinned.

"You know, it's not _that_ hard to run this place, Gene." Anita patted Gene's shoulder. "You could head off to Sanctuary now if you wanted to—"

"I have othah things I need to do. I need to get enough merchandise to last a while, I need to make sure Z0E isn't going to break down, I need to talk with the captain of the guard about Renee, I need to—to get her apahtment sorted…" Gene held her face in her hands and leaned on the counter. "I completely forgot about her apahtment. Oh god. Oh god, what if the city foreclosed on it already? What about all her stuff?!"

Anita gripped her shoulders. "Hey, calm down. It'll be fine. Even if they did foreclose on the apartment and she's been evicted, they wouldn't just toss her stuff. You can go get it for her."

"But wheah is she supposed to live?!" Gene looked up.

Haylen stepped up to the counter and cleared her throat. "I was under the impression she lived her already."

"She _could_ move in with you." Anita shrugged.

"Move in with me…?" Gene shook her head and exhaled in a rush. She turned to go upstairs. "I dunno."

Honestly she wasn't sure if they were ready for that step in the relationship—or if they would ever be ready, now. And besides, Gene's apartment was up a staircase. A _staircase_! Could Renee even go up stairs? Would she…ever be able to?

"Miss Dandridge, you really should go to Sanctuary." Haylen stopped her on the steps. "Anita and I can handle things here. Don't forget, we're both handy with a gun and looking for things is kind of my specialty."

Gene looked away. She'd been told that before joining the Minutemen, Haylen had been a field scribe for the Brotherhood of Steel; something to do with a friend of hers leaving the order caused her defection, but it was really none of Gene's business. She sighed. "I know. I know, I just… I can't see her."

"You've got sudden onset blindness?" Anita quipped, earning an eyeroll from Haylen.

"No, it's not that. You wouldn't undahstand. Just forget I said anything." She turned to continue going upstairs.

"Gene!" Anita called after her.

Gene ignored her and kept walking up. She slipped into the bedroom and closed the door behind her, resting her forehead on the old wood. The truth was she hadn't steeled herself enough yet. She knew that as soon as she stepped foot in Sanctuary, Renee would let her know the relationship was over. They were done. Renee wouldn't want to be with someone who was liable to get her _killed_ ; and honestly, Gene couldn't blame her.

* * *

"Renee, there's someone here to see you."

Renee looked up from where she was trying to do one of the exercises Curie taught her. "Hm?" A smile curled her lips. "Noodle!"

The Nightstriker skidded along the floor and tried to jump into her lap. He licked her face. She patted his head, laughing. "Were you a good boy?"

He yipped and bowed. His rattlesnake tail swished back and forth.

"He was a very good boy." Nate Howard walked in the room next. He leaned against the doorjamb. "Sorry it took so long. I wasn't expecting to run into Mutants on my way back."

"No problem. Honestly I thought it was…" Renee trailed. She hoped—thought it was Gene coming to see her, but having Noodle back was almost a nicer surprise. "Well, I'm glad you're both back safely."

"Me too." Piper stood where she had been helping Renee and got on her tiptoes to kiss her husband. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I most certainly did." Nate stepped inside the room and turned. "Renee, I'd like you to meet Isabel Cruz."

A young woman stepped into the room. She had disheveled dark hair and wore a mechanist's jumpsuit and overall looked rather plain. The only distinguishing feature about her was the eyebot floating behind her, beeping as it scanned the room. She waved. "Hi."

"Isabel Cruz, huh?" Renee furrowed her brow. "Renee Jones." Her lips flattened into a thin line. "Sorry I'm not getting up to shake your hand."

"It's okay, Nate, um, explained what happened." Isabel shuffled over and extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you." She smiled slightly.

"Miss Cruz here is an expert in robotics." Nate grinned at Isabel's embarrassed expression. "I figure if anyone can get you up and walking again, it's her."

"You… What?" Renee glanced between them. Her eyes widened. "You mean…"

"I-I don't know if I would say I'm an _expert_ , but I'm willing to give it a try." Isabel rubbed the back of her neck. She looked at the eyebot. "If nothing else, it'd be fun to experiment. Right Sparky?"

The eyebot beeped in agreement.

"If you could, that'd be…"

Piper cleared her throat. "Don't get your hopes up. This is all a maybe."

"I know. But…" Renee felt hope flare in her chest. For the first time since the accident, since waking up at least, she didn't feel completely useless. There was still a chance for her to be…normal, again.

"I'll get measurements tomorrow, okay? I need to set up shop." Isabel nudged the eyebot. "Let's go."

Piper waited until Isabel was gone to turn to Renee. "You gonna be okay by yourself? I need to speak with Nate."

"Oh, yeah. Go for it." Renee nodded, reaching down to pet Noodle again. She watched them go with a sigh. "Well, at least you'll never leave me, right?"

Noodle thumped his tail against the ground before trotting from the room as well. She frowned. "Well have fun!" She called, bitter.

Renee slumped in the chair and decided not to continue her exercises. Left alone in the living room, her mind began to wander. She wanted to focus on the prospect of getting a new leg, even just the idea of a new leg, but her thoughts continued to drift to Gene. _Gene_. She sighed again. Gene was probably showering that Anita woman with all the stoic affection and flattery that Renee had come to love.

 _No. Leg. You'll get a new— Gene. What about Gene._

She shook her head. No more Gene. No more.


	19. What Good Would Living Do Me?

"Gene! God damn it Dandridge!"

Gene forced her eyes open against the light and the pounding of her head. She blinked a few times. "Anita? What…"

"I followed you in case you decided not to actually go to Sanctuary and thank god I did." The redheaded Minuteman sat back on her heels. "Don't worry, I took out the Raiders."

"Thanks." Gene started to get up. Her headache surged and she gave a soft groan. "Damn… I wasn't expecting to get jumped. Usually the roads around heah are pretty safe, right?"

"Usually." Anita brushed Gene's hair back and sighed. "That's a pretty nasty hit… Come on, I'll help you the rest of the way."

With Anita's help, Gene got to her feet. A wave of dizziness hit her full-force and she nearly collapsed had Anita not steadied her. She felt the woman pull her arm across her shoulders. "S-sorry…" She closed her eyes to try to get a handle on herself.

"Come on, you big oaf, let's go."

As they went along, Gene could feel blood running down her side from a cut and the dizziness never really went away. She chalked it up to nerves. "Anita?" She whimpered.

"I'm right here." Anita shifted her grip on Gene's waist. Her sharp eyes kept darting around for any more danger.

"What if she doesn't want to see me?"

"Then don't give her that choice. It's not like she can run away."

"Anita!" Gene whipped her head around and stumbled. Anita caught her again. "That's…"

Anita sighed again. "I'm sick and tired of you moping around because you think Renee doesn't want to see you. I guarantee she does, more than anything. She _loves_ you. Why wouldn't she want you with her through all this?"

"I don't…"

"I would've killed to have someone like Renee after Quincy."

Gene looked over at Anita to see the woman had her jaw clenched. "You were…"

"Yeah. I was part of that. Nearly died. And I'm not going to let you throw away what some people go their whole lives without." Anita shot Gene a glare. "Listen, I care about you, and I consider you a good friend, but _god_ you're stupid sometimes."

Gene remained silent. Her stomach churned and she nearly stopped to relieve herself of her breakfast. At first she'd taken the attack by the Raiders a sign that she wasn't supposed to go to Sanctuary, to Renee, and planned to go back to Diamond City. Though a hard hit to the head and Anita put an end to that right quick.

She did actually force Anita to stop when they reached the Red Rocket truck stop. "Ugh…" She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket.

"Good thing Curie is around. You definitely need an appointment with her."

"I thought she was a disease doc."

Anita pulled her arm about her shoulders again. "Yeah, but she knows a lot more than just disease."

Gene tried to tug back when they reached the bridge. "I don't want to do this."

"You're going to Sanctuary whether you like it or not!"

Gene yelped as Anita suddenly slung her over her back in a fireman's carry. "Put me down!" The world spun and she groaned again.

"Apparently I have to force you to do what's good for you."

She didn't have much of a choice as Anita carried her over the bridge and into Sanctuary. She glared at the settlers who stared as they passed. "I can walk, you know."

"And if I put you down, you'll run. I'm not letting you go until we get to Curie."

"Fine…"

* * *

It didn't take long for Renee's leg to get sore from standing. It was her first time on her feet—foot, rather—since the accident nearly three months ago. She had to hold on to Isabelle as the mechanic measured her. "Aren't you done yet?"

"I wanna make sure I get everything right." Isabelle kept scribbling on a notepad. "Kinda short, aren'tcha?"

Renee frowned. "Tell me about it."

"Okay, so your knee is there…"

Soon enough Renee was able to sit back in her wheelchair. She groaned as she sat. The muscles in her right leg burned from supporting her weight. "Damn, I didn't think it would be that hard to just stand…"

"I think I should be able to get started." Isabelle tucked her pencil behind her ear. "All right, back to Curie?"

"Please."

Isabelle wheeled her out of the makeshift workshop and into the sunshine. She was careful to avoid any holes in the pavement on their way back to the clinic. "So, um, how do you feel?"

"About?"

"Oh, I uh, I meant in general. I'm sorry, I'm not really good at small talk."

Renee glanced back at her. "It's okay. I feel all right, I guess. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel."

"I—Hm?" Isabelle stopped. "What's going on?"

Renee choked. "Gene?!"

They watched Gene being carried by another woman disappear into the clinic. Isabelle shifted her grip on the wheelchair. "Should we go see, or…"

"Let's go."

Isabelle walked her to the building and inside, ducking out to leave for the workshop. Renee managed to maneuver herself to where Curie was tending to Gene. "What the hell is going on?"

"Gene got jumped on her way here." The woman who carried Gene was seated in a nearby chair, rubbing her shoulder. "Damn, I'm never carrying you again."

"Who the hell are you?" Renee narrowed her eyes. "Wait…"

"Anita Mayweather of the Commonwealth Minutemen, at your service." Anita gave her a weak smile. "We've met before, remember? At the wedding."

" _You're_ Anita?" Renee's gaze flickered over her. Long legs, cropped cherry hair, a pair of glasses. She looked strong. Capable. _Damn it._ "I see."

Curie turned to fetch a Stimpak. "Ah, Renee. You're back. And you 'ave a vistor—"

"Tell her she can go back to Diamond City." Renee turned herself around.

Gene looked up where she sat with her head between her knees. "Short stack, wait!"

"Go fuck yourself."

There was a clatter as Curie dropped the Stim. Renee turned her head slightly. "Sorry, Curie." She wheeled herself out of the room and nudged the door shut behind her.

* * *

That evening, after Curie tended to her and she slept off any residual nausea, Gene found herself in front of Renee's bedroom door. She raised her hand to knock. Her throat went dry and she swallowed hard, trying to quell the knots her stomach was currently tying. With a quick breath, she knocked once.

"I'm awake."

Gene opened the door and shut it again to shield from a flying book. "Short stack, please—"

"I said go fuck yourself."

"I know, but—"

"Leave me alone!"

Gene knocked the second book away with her arm. She shut the door behind her. "Just hear me out, please."

"Why should I listen to _you_?" Renee sat up in bed. Her eyes were narrowed and her shoulders tensed.

"I know you're angry with me. I don't blame you." Gene swallowed again. She stepped forward but kept at a distance in case Renee started throwing things again. "I don't… I can't tell you how sorry I am. I know you said that you don't blame me—"

"Don't blame you?" Renee barked out a bitter laugh. "If I'd known you were seeing some broad on the side I wouldn't have said that." She shook her head. "I can't believe you. After everything we've been through, you drop me as soon as you have to put in any real work. You know, you could've at least told me it was over before screwing her."

Gene blinked. "What are you—"

"Don't act stupid. You really think I don't know? I know that Anita woman is staying with you. I know you're together. I overheard everything back in Vault 81. You think I'm that dumb that I couldn't tell?" Renee clenched her jaw. "I thought you were better than that, Gene. But when it gets right down to it, you're no better than Davey."

Gene's mind went blank. She tried to stammer out an excuse, but Renee cut her off again.

"I _trusted_ you. I loved you, god damn it. I gave you everything. I lost my job for you!" Tears pooled in Renee's eyes as her voice rose. "I _lost my leg_ for you! I nearly _died_ because I love you, and you don't even think I'm worth it enough to not cheat on me!"

"I-I'm not—"

" _God_ , I can't believe you would do this to me. I honestly thought you were better than this. I thought we could have a good life together. But it's good to know the only thing I'm worth to you is a half-decent _fuck_ when you're feeling horny!"

Gene shook her head. "Renee, please, stop."

"Stop? You want me to stop? How about _you_ stop being such a bitch and tell me what's really going on? How many other people have you cheated on me with?" Renee reached for a bottle of pills on the bedside table. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Just get out. I don't even want to see you again."

The label on the bottle flashed and Gene could see it wasn't pain medication. She leapt forward to grab Renee's arm. "You're doing chems?"

"What do you care?" Renee shoved her away. "Didn't kill me before, did it? Or is that what you're gonna try to do next?"

Gene smacked the bottle away and it popped open, sending Daytripper pills skittering across the floor. "I'm not cheating on you."

"Shut up."

"I love you."

"Shut up!"

"I would nevah—"

The sound of Renee's palm connecting with Gene's cheek echoed in the room. It was hard enough to drive Gene's head to the side. She felt her face sting from the impact and knew there was probably an imprint of Renee's hand in her skin. It brought tears to her eyes.

"I… I hate you." Renee let her head hang as she cried. "I want to hate you so badly. How could you do this to me? How could you…"

"Just listen to me, _please_." Gene sat on the edge of the bed. Renee didn't object, but didn't look at her either. "I'm not cheating on you, I sweah. Anita and Haylen are looking after the shop while I'm gone. That's it."

"Then why was she carrying you in?"

"Because I got jumped by Raidahs on my way heah. She was helping me." Gene took a deep breath. She balled her hands into fists where they rested on her thighs. "I'm not cheating on you. I couldn't live with myself if I evah did something like that."

Renee shook her head. "Then why didn't you come with me? Why have you been avoiding me? You're the only person I've wanted this whole time and you can't even stand to look at me!"

"Because it's my fault!" Gene whipped her head to gaze at her. Tears streaked down her cheeks. "Because I can't stand knowing that it's my fault you're like this!"

"I told you—"

"I know you told me, but it's still my fault. And I was so sure that you… That you hate me. I hate me." Gene looked away again. "I don't know how you could still love me aftah this. I can't… I can't deal with the guilt. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I can't make this right and it's my fault. It should've been me."

Renee was quiet.

"I should've been the one to take that Deathclaw. But you… I don't deserve you. And you don't deserve any of this." Gene wiped her nose with her sleeve. "But I would nevah cheat on you. Hell, considering how long it took for us to get togethah in the first place, do you really think I could find someone again so fast? Or at all?"

"Gene…"

"Anita said I needed to come see you. Because the truth is I've missed you so damn much. I can't go back to how I was before. You're all I want and I ruined it. I fucked everything up." She began to stand.

Renee grabbed her jacket. "Gene."

"I don't blame you for hating me. Like I said, I hate me. God, I hate all of this so much. I ruined your life and I can't do anything about it." She again looked at Renee. "But you have to believe me when I say I love you. I love you so much. These last months have been hell without you." More tears made her vision blurry. "I'm sorry…"

"You thought I hated you?"

"How could you _not_?"

"Gene, I… This whole time I've only wanted to see you! Not being with you has been… Has been…"

Gene sat back down on the bed. She shook her head. "I should've come soonah."

"Yeah, you should've."

Gene cocked an eyebrow at the redhead before she began to laugh. "At least we agree on that."

"So you're not cheating on me with Anita? Even if she's taller and prettier and probably smarter than me?"

"Short stack, no one is prettiah than you." Gene reached to cup Renee's cheek, running her thumb over the freckles she loved so dearly.

"Except you." Renee's lips tugged into a small smile.

Gene rolled her eyes. She sighed. "So…"

"I love you too. And I forgive you. Even if you were being stupid."

"Me? You're the one that honestly thought I would cheat on you."

"In my defense, I caught my last lover cheating on me with three other people at the same time."

Gene shrugged. "Okay, okay. I'll give you that." She shifted. "Can I…"

"Mm-hm."

Gene leaned in and pressed her lips to Renee's. She sighed. God, but she missed the taste of her. She pulled back just to be brought back into another kiss. She pulled away the second time with a smile. "I guess that's that."

"Don't ever do that to me again." Renee grabbed a fistful of Gene's shirt and pulled her close, so close their noses almost touched. "Or else next time I might just let the Deathclaw get you."

"Message received." Gene kissed her nose. "As long as you promise nevah to jump to conclusions like that again. And don't slap me again, Jesus."

"Sorry…"


	20. Don't Want To Bore You

With the Tall Stack back with the Cuddle Friend, there was hardly any room left for Noodle on the bed. He didn't mind much, though; he was just happy to be able to sleep with them and get pets and snuggles. Though he didn't much appreciate being kicked around a little by accident in the night.

Once morning came, he trotted out of the room to see what the Funny Sound Friend and the Other Tall Stack (with a Beard) were up to. As usual he found them in the kitchen eating breakfast. And he decided he wanted something to eat too.

"FOOD," he yipped, his tail wagging.

"Good morning, Monsieur Noodle!" The Funny Sound Friend scratched his head.

"FOOD PLEASE," he yipped again.

"Shh, quietly. Renee and Gene are sleeping." She went back to her breakfast.

The Other Tall Stack (with a Beard) got up and grabbed Noodle's food dish. "I bet you want breakfast."

"THANK." Noodle whined and pawed the ground impatiently. As soon as the dish was back on the floor, he set to work gobbling up the contents.

He heard them talking in the background but he paid no notice. Instead he thought about what to do that day. With the Tall Stack around he could play with her, though the Cuddle Friend seemed to be feeling a little better so maybe she could play. But of course there was Dogmeat around too who he could play with. Though Dogmeat was usually busy.

"I 'ave to see 'ow Dr. Virgil is progressing with our experiments. Would you mind assisting Miss Jones today?"

"No problem. With Gene around it should go pretty smoothly."

" _Merci_ , Elwood. You are a blessing to be sure."

"Say hi to Lawrence for me."

Noodle's ears perked up upon hearing the Deathclaw's name. He very much enjoyed playing with Big Friend. He finished his food and pawed at the Funny Sound Friend's foot. She looked down at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Hm?"  
"I COME TOO."

"Do you want me to pet you?"

"I COME TOO."

Funny Sound Friend patted his head. She pushed her chair back and took her dishes to the sink. "I am unsure when I will return."

"Take your time, Miss Curie. I have things handled here."

She smiled and headed for the door. Noodle squeezed outside behind her. He wagged his tail and pawed the ground. "I COME TOO."

"Ah, are you going to come with me Monsieur Noodle?" She reached to pat his head and continued down the street.

Noodle jogged along at her side. Once they were past the bridge, he ran ahead to the Red Rocket Truck Stop. "BIG FRIEND!" He barked, skidding to a stop in front of the garage.

"Noodle!" Big Friend met him and gave him a rough scratching behind the ears. "How are you?"

"PLAY?" Noodle bowed and continued to wag his tail.

"In a minute. I need to talk to Curie and Dr. Virgil."

It didn't take long for Funny Sound Friend to catch up. She waved to the Deathclaw. " _Bonjour_ , Lawrence!"

"Hey Miss Curie!" He waved in return.

"Is Dr. Virgil around?"

"I think he's in back. And he has good news." Big Friend chuckled. "Well, good for us anyway."

Noodle followed them as they went around to the back of the truck stop. Not Friend was talking to Blue Friend as they stood in front of a large cage. "WHAT THIS?" He yelped, sniffing the cage. It smelled like one of the big green men that Cuddle Friend sometimes had to fight, but there was no big green man to be seen.

"So, I assume this is proof that our hypothesis was a success?" Funny Sound Friend crossed her arms and stared at the cage.

"Indeed it is. Melted from the inside out." Not Friend nudged at Noodle. "Get away from there, mutt."

Noodle growled at him.

"So if it melted a Super Mutant, then it should make the Deathclaws nice and squishy, correct?" Big Friend shook his head. "Perfect for shooting."

"That's the plan." Blue Friend nodded. "We poison their water supply, wait a while, and then go in guns blazing."

"Zhat is quite the plan, Monsieur 'Oward." Funny Sound Friend seemed surprised. "I was expecting somezhing per'aps more, ah, _subtle_."

"I'm afraid we don't have time for subtle anymore. We've wasted enough time with Renee—" Blue Friend cleared his throat. "I mean, we've wasted enough time in general that we can't afford to waste any more."

"You'd best not let her hear you say that." Big Friend snorted.

"You know what I meant."

"Either way, we're ready to continue with the plan when you are." Not Friend began filling a bunch of vials from the nearby lab table.

Blue Friend sighed. "Lawrence, when he's done, feel free to take these back to your buddies."

"Of course." Big Friend nodded and stepped back.

Noodle whined. "PLAY?" He jumped a few times.

"We can play now." Big Friend turned to him with a smile.

Noodle ran in a tight circle and went to get a ball from the garage. When he returned he spit it out into Big Friend's clawed hand. "THROW!"

Big Friend threw the ball high and far. Noodle ran after it, his paws pounding on the ground and scrabbling to get a foothold as he sprinted. He watched the ball go straight into a molerat hole and wasted no time in diving after it.

"Hey!" A molerat pushed the ball out and began stalking toward him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

"BALL!"

"That's my home, you idiot!"

Noodle yelped as the molerat leapt forward, biting his leg. He growled and flung off the animal, baring his fangs. "NO."

The molerat didn't listen and tried to attack again. Noodle grabbed it by the neck and shook his head until he felt the molerat go limp in his jaws. He limped over to get the ball and trotted back to the Red Rocket.

"Noodle, what happened?" Big Friend knelt next to him.

"BAD MOLERAT." Noodle lifted his leg for Big Friend to see.

"You should go see Curie to take care of that before it gets infected. I doubt Renee wants you to lose a leg too." Big Friend took the ball back. "Go on."

"PLAY?" Noodle sat back on his hind legs.

"No, you need to have your leg taken care of. Go on home. I'll be back in a few days and we can play again then, okay?"

"BIG FRIEND BE SAFE." Noodle got down on all fours and licked Big Friend's palm.

"I will. Go on now."

Noodle limped back into Sanctuary and back to the house he knew he could find Funny Sound Friend in. He clawed at the door until he was let inside.

"Monsieur Noodle, what did you get into?" Funny Sound Friend led him into one of the sharp-smelling rooms and patted a table. He jumped up. "Hm. Stay right zhere."

He sat on the table. Funny Sound Friend turned to rummage through a nearby cabinet and brought out a Stimpak. "'Ere."

"NO." He pressed his ears against his head and growled.

"Noodle, do not be like zhat. Hold still."

He yelped as she stuck it in his leg. "HURT!"

The pain ebbed away and he felt the bite heal. He licked at his leg where it once was. Then, he licked her face. "THANK."

"Hehe, you are quite welcome. Go on now, go on." She helped him down and shooed him out of the room.

Noodle went back outside to find something else to do. Cuddle Friend and Tall Stack were nowhere to be seen, so that meant he was on his own for entertainment. He decided to go see if Dogmeat was available, and hopefully the two children he often corralled.

* * *

"Noodle, can't you jump up heah on the end of the bed?"

"Oh come on Gene, he doesn't mean any trouble."

"Dumb snup…"

Noodle wriggled his way between the two women. He gazed up at Cuddle Friend as she laid on her side and stroked his head. "Did you have a good day?" She asked.

"I did."

"Not _you_ , I'm asking Noodle."

Tall Stack huffed and rolled her eyes.

"YES!" Noodle's tail wagged and thumped between Tall Stack's and Cuddle Friend's legs.

Cuddle Friend giggled and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "How's my handsome boy?"

His tail wagged harder.

"Noodle, quit that." Tall Stack held his tail down.

"Aw, let him have his fun." Cuddle Friend shifted and pulled the blanket tighter. "Curie told me that she's planning on taking my arm cast off tomorrow."

"Healed up finally?"

"Well, sort of. She said I'll have to wear a brace for a while…" Cuddle Friend sighed. "My left arm still isn't very strong."

Tall Stack rolled over this time and nearly kneed Noodle in the snout. "That's what you have me for."

"Heh. True." Cuddle Friend inched toward Tall Stack.

Noodle pushed himself between them as they leaned in for a kiss. He licked at Tall Stack's cheek. She sputtered and shoved him away. "Noodle!"

Cuddle Friend just laughed.


	21. Til I'm Screaming For More

Renee woke much the same way as she fell asleep: wrapped in Gene's embrace, her head against the woman's chest, breathing in the smells she so desperately missed. She took a few moments to get her bearings before shifting away to stretch. Gene made a noncommittal noise of displeasure beside her. "Good morning," she murmured, looking back at her. "Did you sleep well?"

Gene yawned. "Yeah, I guess."

Noodle was still between them at the foot of the bed. He looked up, tilting his head. "Hrm?"

"It would've been bettah if the snup wasn't in the way." She shot him a glare.

"Gene, I know you like him. You don't have to keep acting like you hate Noodle." Renee giggled at the embarrassed blush that tinged Gene's cheeks. She craned her neck to see the clock on the bedside table behind her, but she couldn't manage to see it. "What time is it?"

"Too fucking early." Gene swiped a hand over her eyes.

Noodle jumped down from the bed and scratched at the closed door with a whine. Renee glanced between him and Gene. "Would you mind…?"

Gene groaned as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, standing up. "Heah, go take a piss." She opened the door just enough for Noodle to wiggle out and shut it behind him.

Renee propped herself up on her pillows. She missed seeing Gene in the mornings; missed being able to drink in Gene's body since Gene didn't seem to believe in wearing pajamas. Half the time she slept nude, though last night she at least kept her underwear on. No bra, though.

As Gene turned Renee felt her face heat up at being caught staring. Gene quirked an eyebrow. "Like what you see, short stack?"

Renee smiled. "I do. Always do." Her eyes glanced down to Gene's breasts before flickering back up to her face. "God, I missed you."

"You know, I still haven't made it up to you yet." Gene sauntered back to the bed, putting more sway into her hips than before.

Renee nibbled her bottom lip and felt something kin to heat spread through her body. "You're gonna have to do something really amazing to make up for _that_."

"I think I can manage." With one, swift movement Gene jerked the blankets back and to the floor, exposing Renee. She was about to climb onto the mattress when she stopped. "I-I'm sorry, I haven't…"

"It's okay. I look weird, I know." Renee shifted.

It was the first time Gene actually saw proof, real actual proof, that Renee's left leg was gone. She knew of course, logically, but seeing the way Renee's thigh just…stopped was different Seeing the way the cloth of her pajama pants laid limply on the sheets without anything to fill it. "I…"

"I didn't mean to ruin the mood."

"You didn't." Gene snapped her head up. "I mean. I can work with this. Just means I need to be gentle." Her eyes narrowed as she smirked. "And go _slowah_."

"God damn it, that's not what this means at all!" Renee chucked a pillow at her head.

"Ah ah ah, careful theah. You're still in recovery." Gene crawled onto the bed, settling between Renee's thighs. Her sapphire eyes were dark and half-lidded. "Why don't you relax and just let me do all the work, hm?"

Renee opened her mouth to respond when Gene reached one hand up to trail her stomach. She sank into the pillows with a sigh. "Yeah, okay," she murmured.

Gene worked Renee's pants down first, tossing them to the floor. She shifted to push the redhead's shirt up enough to press a light kiss to her navel. Her lips feathered over the scar that took up most of Renee's belly and she smiled at Renee's soft giggle. "Still pretty ticklish, I see."

"You expected me not to be?"

Gene kissed down to her underwear before moving to pay some attention to the insides of her thighs. Renee gave a soft moan. "I missed this…"

"Me too." Gene glanced up to see Renee had her eyes closed.

Renee could feel Gene kissing down to her right knee before moving back up. She bit her lip when she finally felt the woman hook one strong finger in the band of her panties and start to slowly, _achingly_ slowly, pull them down as well. Her cheeks burned at Gene's huff. "What?" Though she already knew what got her attention.

"You're very impatient."

"You know I prefer my left hand and it's pretty damn hard to get myself off with a broken arm—Oh…"

Gene flicked out her tongue again, swiping at Renee's wet folds. She backed off as Renee jerked her hips. "Relax," she whispered. She pressed a kiss to the inside of her thighs.

Renee grabbed at the sheets beneath her as Gene did it again, pushing further. It'd been far too long since she was last able to release some of her pent-up sexual energy, and even longer since they two had been intimate. She knew it wouldn't take much to push her over the edge but she was bound and determined to let this go on for as long as she could. She bit her lip again to keep a louder moan from escaping.

The redhead couldn't keep it in as Gene swirled her tongue around her clit. Gene chuckled. "Not so loud, you'll wake everyone else up."

"I'm not—" She broke off in a muffled whine.

Gene gently sucked at the bundle of nerves. Renee's hips trembled beneath her and she reached a hand back to steady the woman. Renee let out a strained squeak when Gene flickered her tongue against her. She did it again, receiving a moan this time.

"Gene, I c-can't—I'm—"

Gene shifted to slip a finger in Renee's waiting vagina. She sucked harder, letting her tongue dance about the swollen muscle. Renee moaned above her, panted out something incomprehensible, and her hips bucked.

She pulled back in time to avoid getting a face-full of Renee's pelvis as the redhead rolled again. Renee practically screamed as she tipped over the edge, gripping the sheets, her toes curling, her face flushed. Once she devolved into mewls and soft whimpers, Gene flashed her a wicked smile.

"That was just the appetizah to this fine dining."

Renee groaned. "You're gonna kill me."

"I said I was gonna make up for everything." She settled in for more.

* * *

Later in the morning, at breakfast, Gene and Renee ate in relative silence with Elwood and Curie. Noodle made the most noise as he munched his Cram.

Finally, Curie cleared her throat. "While I'm pleased you seem to be feeling better, I believe in zhe future you should per'aps perform such activities with care. I don't want you to aggravate any healing you 'ave left do to."

Renee nearly choked on her Sugar Bombs and Gene quickly downed her coffee to excuse herself.


	22. Que La Vie Sera Belle

"How's that feel? Snug?"

Renee nodded. "Feels fine. A little tight, but…"

"Well, it's gotta be tight if you don't want it to fall off."

"I've already lost my leg once, don't really want it to happen again."

Isabel stopped where she was making minor adjustments. She blinked before chuckling. "I get it."

Renee gazed down at the prosthetic. Fashioned from a modified Generation 1 Synth leg slapped together with some Assaultron parts, it looked almost alien. None of the armored plating had been put on yet in case Isabel had more tinkering to do, but the mechanic said she felt confident it would work. At least her measurements were correct. Already that made it better than a few of the prototypes.

Isabel pushed herself to her feet and wiped her hands on her jumpsuit. "All right, that should do it. Let's see if it works."

With Gene's help, Renee stood up. She put all her weight on her right leg, unsure of herself. "How does it work?" She asked, not letting go of Gene's arm.

"Just walk like normal."

Renee tried to take a step. To her surprise, the leg whirred and the knee joint bent to catch her. She put it back down but didn't yet dare push off from her right foot. "You better catch me if I fall."

"I'm right heah, don't worry." Gene placed a hand on her shoulder.

With a quick breath Renee finished the step. It was shaky, and she nearly stumbled, but she managed it. The leg took her weight and she took her first step in months. Her eyes widened. "It…"

" _Encore_ ," Curie ordered, standing nearby.

A touch more confident, Renee stepped again. And another. And another and yet more until she very suddenly found herself on the other side of the makeshift workshop. She looked up at Gene, tears in her eyes. "I can _walk_."

Gene nodded with a smile. She didn't bother hiding her own tears and pulled Renee close. "You can," she whispered. She tightened her hold and nuzzled against Renee's head. "Thank god…"

"Try it without holding on to your girlfriend, _s'il te plaît_." Curie scribbled on the clipboard she held.

Renee released her vice grip on Gene's sleeve but made sure the woman was still nearby. She tried to walk again and very nearly fell over. "Hmph, this is difficult…"

"Well, you're quite unused to even standing, much less attempting to walk. Your muscles need time to adjust and build up strength."

Renee managed to make it about halfway back to Isabel before she didn't quite lift her thigh high enough and the knee joint remained locked. She nearly fell over had Gene not caught her. "Guess I need some practice."

"I believe zhat is enough for now." Curie clicked her pen. "I will see if Monsieur Sturges can fashion a cane for you. You'll require it for some time. At least until you're balanced enough on your own."

Renee sat back in the all-too familiar wheelchair and unlatched the prosthetic. She rubbed some feeling back into her thigh. "A cane? Like I'm an old woman?"

"Yes, exactly like zhat." Curie rolled her eyes.

Isabel took the prosthetic and placed it on her workbench. "I'll get this finished up for you and make a few others. So you have backups in case something happens."

"Thank you." Renee couldn't help her grin. "Thank you, so much."

"Oh, I mean, just doing my job…" Isabel rubbed the back of her neck.

Gene grabbed the young woman in a hug. "Thanks from both of us. You have no idea how much this means."

"Oh…"

"Indeed. Mademoiselle Cruz, you 'ave done a most wonderful zhing 'ere. I 'ope you're proud of yourself. Because we are." Curie flashed her a smile. "Renee, I would like to run a few more tests with you before I finish with you for zhe day."

"Oh, right."

Gene released the young mechanic and went to push Renee along, following after Curie. "What kind of tests?" The redhead asked, looking up at the doctor.

"I want to test zhe range of motion in your arm and shoulder." Curie smiled. "You 'ave been doing quite well, and I believe once Mademoiselle Cruz is finished with your prosthetics, you will be able to return to Diamond City." The smile disappeared and she arched her eyebrows. "But I will warn you, if I should find out zhat you are pushing yourself too 'ard I will be forced to remedy zhe _problem_."

Renee knew too well that Curie was a force to be reckoned with. Nate once referred to her "The Harmacist" based on her performance in a fight. Renee had only made the Synth angry once, when she was feeling particularly catty and too sore to do her exercises, and she wasn't keen on repeating the event. "Yes ma'am," she squeaked.

It didn't take long to return to Curie's lab. Standing outside the door were a couple of Minutemen, who saluted upon seeing them. "Dr. Collins, General Howard is inside and wants to see you," one said.

" _Merci_." Curie gave him a nod.

"Collins? I thought Miss Nannies didn't have surnames." Renee cocked her head.

Curie opened the door and ushered them inside. "Monsieur 'Oward insisted zhat I have a surname once I became a Synth. So I took zhe name of my programmer. But, I do prefer just Curie."

Nate, Dr. Virgil, Piper, and a few other Minutemen officers were standing in the kitchen around the table. Nate turned to them. "Good, you're here."

"I assume zhis means we are ready to proceed." Curie's face slipped into a neutral expression.

Nate just nodded. "We are."

"Ready for what?" Renee glanced around the room.

"To take out the Deathclaws." Nate leaned back against the kitchen table. "Some time ago Dr. Virgil and Curie developed a way to weaken them, and Lawrence poisoned their water supply. We've decided it's time to strike now." He looked to Curie. "I was hoping I could get some Stims and other supplies from you."

"But of course." Curie left to go to her storage closet.

Renee cleared her throat. "Nate, I want to come along."

Nate shook his head. "Renee, no. You can't. You're physically incapable of doing this." He sighed. "Normally I wouldn't say this, but you'd be a liability more than an asset. You're staying here."

Gene stepped forward. "Then I'll go."

"What?" Renee whipped her head up to look at her girlfriend. "Gene, you can't!"

"I've been a part of this from the beginning and I want to see it through to the end." Renee could see a muscle in Gene's jaw twitch. "I'm good with a gun. I can handle myself."

"But Gene—"

Nate smiled. "If you want to join us, I won't stop you."

"I sure as hell will!" Renee managed to turn herself around to face the shopkeeper. "Gene, we just got back together, you can't just…"

Gene gazed down at her. "I have to do this, short stack."

"But…"

"I'll come back. You'll see." She looked at Nate. "When were you planning on leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

* * *

In the early dawn, Renee, Piper, and Curie watched Nate and the other Minutemen cross the bridge out of Sanctuary. Piper had also insisted on joining her husband, but Curie convinced her out of it. "For not only your personal safety, but zhe safety of your unborn child. Any amount of radiation could be extremely detrimental," the doctor had said. And Piper couldn't really argue with that.

But Renee, try as she might, was unable to hold Gene back. "Please, think about this. I can't lose you."

"I have thought about it." Gene shifted uncomfortably in the Minuteman uniform Nate gave her. "And… I want to do this. I want to make up for…everything."

"You won't make up for anything if you're dead!"

"I won't die. Nate is sending in the men in powah armor first. Then the rest of us to clean up. I'll be fine." Gene bent to hold the redhead. "I'll come back to you," she whispered.

Renee buried her face in the woman's shoulder. "If you die I'll never forgive you."

Gene said nothing; only kissed Renee and turned to join the rest of the platoon.

Nate said goodbye to Piper and stepped onto the bridge. "Heh. At this rate, I'll have to make you two honorary Minutemen for everything you've done." He smiled bitterly. "In the very least, Renee would be in the running for a purple heart. Uh, no offence."

Renee arched an eyebrow. "Oh ha-ha."

"You better come back too!" Piper called as the platoon walked away.

"I will! You can't get rid of me that easily!" Nate turned to wave.

They watched the Minutemen disappear into the morning fog. Curie gave a quick sigh and looked down at Renee. "Well, zhere is not much to do except what we 'ave always done, _n'est pas_?"

"Yeah. I guess." Renee's shoulders fell. Worry settled in her chest and she wished, desperately, that she could be at Gene's side.


	23. Betray Your Inhibitions

They sent in Lawrence first.

Gene felt her heart pound in her chest. She gripped her shotgun so hard her fingers cramped, and her knuckles were white around the trigger. Standing next to Nate, she could see why he was the General. He was calm, his face expressionless, brown eyes narrowed.

"Lawrence! Where have you been, boy?" A rough, rugged voice screeched, somewhere further in the sewers.

"Sorry, I—"

"Never mind that, do you have any more information?"

"I—"

"Of course he doesn't! Useless lizard." A different voice, this one slurred.

Nate smiled. "It's been working. Go on my signal."

Gene tensed her shoulders. She suddenly realized how very _vulnerable_ she was, armed with nothing but a shotgun, armored by nothing but a Minuteman uniform and a metal chestplate that barely fit. Nate assured her she would be fine—the soldiers in power armor were going in first, everyone else was just on clean-up—but still she worried. She was afraid.

" _Now_."

At Nate's direction the Minutemen rushed forward. She heard shouting, roars. Shooting. Bullet casings hitting the ground, _tink-tink-tink-tink-tink_. A minigun spun up. Claws against metal.

Suddenly Nate was no longer there. Gene felt a rush as the other Minutemen followed their General.

Gene's boots crunched against the ruined, rocky ground. It changed to sloshing as she ran further into the sewers and then a sharp _squelch_ as she stepped on a Deathclaw's discarded arm. She looked down. Blood seeped into the concrete. Her mind flashed back to seeing Renee's torn leg bleeding out in the Glowing Sea.

"Dandridge!"

Her finger pulled back the trigger before the rest of her reacted. The Deathclaw before her howled and reached for its throat. She shot again and reloaded. A nearby Minuteman in power armor pelted the beast with their minigun.

She gave him a thankful glance.

Another Deathclaw bounded toward her. Its eyes glowed red in the dim light, illuminated by the glow of miniguns and rifles. It reached back a claw. Just before it reached her, she felt another rush of air and Lawrence tackled it to the ground.

"Dandridge!"

A hand on her forearm. She looked up to see Nate. His forehead was streaked with sweat and a spray of blood.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Then help."

An ear-splitting roar echoed through the sewers. Two Minutemen slammed into the ground near her, their armor ripped and their insides spilt. Clarence, she knew. Lawrence told them the alpha was a particularly brutish fellow who called himself Clarence. Strongest. Biggest. Smartest. Dumb name, though.

Clarence roared again and grabbed a power armor unit by the head. He threw them into the wall and bit into their chest. He turned, blood dripping from his teeth and claws.

Gene rushed to reload. She shot both slugs at him. Reload. _Reload!_

Clarence got down to pounce. She shot him again. The slugs disappeared into his scaly chest but he continued to run. Reload. Bang. He growled and she could see his eyes now. Reload.

Gene saw white as his claws dug into her chestplate. She shot and heard another howl. His paw slammed her to the ground. Her head cracked against the floor and her ears rung. Her vision wavered. Just as he reared back to close his teeth around her face, she managed to bring her shotgun up. The explosion blinded her. Blood sprayed into the air.

"Dandridge!"

Her arm fell to the ground and she felt a weight on her chest. She turned to see Nate running toward her. Then she saw nothing at all.

* * *

Renee wanted to meet them standing, and so she did. Noodle sat next to her, his ears perked. She glanced at Piper.

"Nate!" The reporter rushed forward once he set foot on the bridge.

He grabbed her in a hug.

The other Minutemen passed them by, most likely on their way to Curie's clinic. They were dirty, blood-splattered, but alive. Renee paid them no mind. She took a halting step forward. "Gene…"

Gene hung on another Minuteman who Renee recognized as Anita. She felt tension release from her shoulders. She walked toward them, leaning heavily on the cane Sturges fashioned for her. Noodle blasted past her with a happy bark.

Gene looked up. Three long claw marks tore through the Minuteman symbol on her armor, but she was alive, and from the looks of it, relatively unhurt. She let go of Anita.

Renee felt herself get wrapped up in a kiss. She reached up one hand to tangle in Gene's thick hair. Gene gripped her waist with one hand and her shoulders with her other arm. She pulled back with a short breath.

"It's ovah." Her sapphire eyes glistened. "It's finally ovah."


	24. Will You Still Love Me?

**I apologize for the repeated delays, real life is hard sometimes. But, rest assured I will finish this eventually.**

 **Please, enjoy.**

* * *

It was surprising, how quickly they settled into a new routine. Once Gene and Renee made it back to Diamond City, and Anita and Haylen moved out to continue on with the Minutemen, they eased into their lives almost as if nothing had changed at all. Gene went back to minding the store and Noodle tried to "help" her. Indeed, things returned to normal.

Almost, anyway.

Renee woke just before the dawn, when the sun barely peaked over the horizon and the stars were still visible in the sky. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Outside the window, she could see the clouds and the galaxies above. She sighed, pulling her knee to her chest.

It was hard not to cry, when all she wanted to do was lay in bed and wallow in her own feelings. She rested her chin on her knee and gazed up at the stars. Since returning home, she just felt more and more depressed.

 _"I'm sorry, Jones. But you've been gone for so long, and in your, uh, current condition, you'd be more of a liability than an asset. I'm afraid I have to let you go."  
"You're firing me? But captain—"_

 _"The Diamond City guard needs people to protect it. And you're just not one of those people anymore."_

Renee's eyes narrowed as she remembered the conversation from yesterday. Captain Lassiter looked sorry as he fired her from the guard, but she couldn't help but feel broken. She knew, logically, that he was right of course; what good was she with only one leg and a goddamn cane.

She felt tears well up in her eyes and bit her lip. Beside her, Gene shifted in her sleep but didn't wake. Renee gazed down at her. Gene didn't deserve any of this. She didn't deserve having to deal with her now.

She leaned over to open the drawer of her bedside table. Nestled behind a book, a notebook, and a few pens, was an old aspirin bottle. Gene shifted again. Renee grabbed the bottle and took great care not to shake it much. She popped off the cap, dug around for a couple pills, and slid them on her tongue. She swallowed them dry.

The pills weren't aspirin of course, but instead were Daytripper. Renee took a few deep breaths and waited for the chem to kick in. There was little she could do these days beyond chems and sleeping. Curie said she had to work on getting strength back in her arm and shoulder. Not that it would, ultimately, matter; she couldn't raise her arm further than straight out and she'd always have permanent weakness.

Renee glanced back at Gene one more time. The woman was still deeply asleep, huddled in the blankets. She sighed. Renee leaned over to kiss her head and then reached for her prosthetic where it was just under the bed.

"Mm… Short stack?" Gene turned.

"Bathroom."

"Mm-kay…"

She latched on her leg and pushed herself to her feet. Grabbed her cane, a jacket, pocketed her lighter and a package of cigarettes. Tried, _desperately_ , not to make much noise as she made her way to the stairs but the _tok-thunk-tok-thunk_ of her movements was impossible to silence. Down the stairs. Past Z0E, who was still on stand-by for the night. Unlock the door. Open it.

The cold air of the pre-dawn hit her and she shivered once. Renee closed the door and sat herself on the shop's steps, tugging her jacket closer. She lit a cigarette before she knew she'd be too distracted to remember to do so. The smoke curled up in the air from her lips.

She could feel the Daytripper start to kick in as her mind grew hazy. Gold edged her vision. She took another, longer drag on the cigarette and watched it twist toward the sky. So pretty. Simple. She smiled.

Renee shifted and heard a metallic clank as her left foot slipped off the steps. She slid further down the stairs and laid back, letting her prosthetic hang off the side. Through the smoke she could still see the stars, though now the sun was rising and bringing with it the pink and purple fluffy clouds. She imagined she could see Noodle in one of them.

She realized she couldn't feel her left leg and figured the Daytripper fully took over. Her fingers felt a bit numb but she didn't care. When the Chem faded she'd get her feelings back. But for now, she just wanted to watch the sky and smoke. Gene never let her smoke. Gene never let her do anything fun.

Renee nibbled her bottom lip in between hits of the cigarette.

She couldn't be sure how long she laid there on those steps. But she did notice when suddenly a child entered her view. "Hm?" She blew smoke from her nostrils.

"Watcha doin'?" The boy tilted his head. "You okay?"

"Watching the sky, kid." She looked beyond him to the clouds. "What're you doin' up this early?" She realized her voice sounded gravelly. She cleared her throat.

"Getting back from night school." He waved his hand in front of his face to clear the smoke she breathed at him. "Hey, watch it."

"Night school, huh?" Renee propped herself up on her elbows. "Yeah, got a decent school here. Better'n what I had growing up."

"Tch. Yeah, I guess. I wish they taught us useful stuff." He looked further down the street.

"Knowin' how to read's useful." Renee flicked the end of her cigarette away and reached for the pack in her pocket.

He huffed. "I mean stuff like how to survive out there. We're not gonna be behind the Wall forever."

Renee flipped her lighter and gave a sharp inhale. "You're that water kid, right?"

"Sheng Kowalski, at your service." But he sounded tired when he said it.

"You should go get some sleep." Renee put the lighter away.

Sheng shifted awkwardly but finally turned. "Yeah. If you get thirsty you should come by my stand later."

"I got plenty of booze, kid. I don't need water."

"Fine then, jackass."

Renee watched him go between the wisps of smoke. She continued to stare even as he disappeared from view and the rest of Diamond City began to wake. Her body was still numb.

"Short stack? The hell you doing out heah?"

She looked up to see Gene standing over her from behind. She shrugged. "Thinkin'."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Renee went back to staring at the sky.

Gene bent to pluck the cigarette from her fingertips. "Then quit smoking and come back inside."

Renee watched it smolder in the dust. Gene never let her smoke. Never let her do anything fun. A small voice in the back of her head chided her, telling her Gene was only looking out for her and it was for her own good. A smaller voice reminded her Gene probably didn't love her anymore.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! I appreciate it a lot. Reviews/comments are encouraged but not required at all.**


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